THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 


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TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


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HISTORY  AND  INCIDENTS 

OF 

THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE 


By  William  J.  Dennis 


Copyright,  1916,  by  William  J.  Dennis 


THE   HOMESTEAD   PRINTING   CO. 
DES    MOINES 


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PREFACE. 

Among  the  varied  and  complex  activities  of  our  busy  life, 
there  is  doubtless  no  other  work  or  occupation  about  which 
the  average  person  has  so  little  information,  and  perhaps  no 
other  service  so  vital  to  social  and  business  interests  as  the 
Railway  Mail  Service,  a  division  of  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment. The  twenty  thousand  railway  postal  clerks  engaged  in 
this  service  are  variously  misplaced  in  the  minds  of  most  peo- 
ple as  railroad  employees,  or  as  post  office  clerks  detailed  to 
this  service,  and  are  not  known  in  their  real  capacity,  that  of 
semi-professional;  semi-technical  public  servitors  in  the  clas- 
sified civil  service  of  the  government. 

Anyone  can  understand,  to  some  extent  at  least,  the  work 


4 


of  the  professional  man,  such  as  the  lawyer  or  doctor,  and  can 
partly  appreciate  the  skill  of  his  calling,  which,  while  neces- 
sitating more  initial  study,  requires  less  constant  study  and 
application  than  that  of  railway  postal  clerks.  The  latter  use 
materials  for  study  that  are  of  no  value  to  anyone  else,  as  the 
reader  will  observe  when  reading  the  account  of  the  thief,  who 
threw  away  the  contents  of  a  postal  clerk's  traveling  bag, 
which  he  unfortunately  stole  while  robbing  a  house. 

The  Railway  Mail  Service  was  founded  within  the  memory 
of  the  oldest  clerks  now  in  that  service,  and  its  origin,  instant 
growth,  and  later  development,  together  with  many  interest- 
ing incidents  of  the  work,  form  an  unwritten  history  in  the 
minds  of  these  men.  Many  interesting  incidents  will  not  be 
related  in  this  volume,  because  of  the  reluctance  of  these  vet- 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

erans  to  relate  their  experiences.  I  have  used  only  the  most 
representative  yarns,  and  have  employed  my  own  discretion 
as  to  retelling  or  inserting  verbatim  the  material  collected. 

This  volume  is  not  intended  for  a  complete  and  technical 
treatise  on  the  railway  mail  service,  but  it  aims  to  right  in  the 
minds  of  its  readers  the  nature  of  the  service  performed  in 
Uncle  Sam's  Traveling  Post  Office,  to  establish  the  profes- 
sional autonomy  of  its  clerks,  and  to  preserve  some  of  the  early 
history  of  the  rise  of  a  peculiar  service,  and,  if  possible,  to 
depict  an  unwritten  phase  of  American  life. 

To  those  clerks,  who  have  furnished  me  accounts  of  their 
experiences,  I  am  much  indebted,  and  to  all  who  have  aided 
me  in  other  ways,  I  am  very  grateful. 

WILLIAM  J.  DENNIS. 
Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
April  5.  1916. 


-0474-t  rti  AL 

c  CONTENTS 

<4  


J 


Part  I — History  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service 

Pages 
Introduction 5-6 

CHAPTER  I. 

American  Posts. 

The  new  Republic  8 

Post    coaches    9 

The  advent  of  steam   10 

Pony  express  11-13 

CHAPTER  II. 

Early  Mail  Distribution. 

Distributing  post  offices    14 

Route  agents   15-1 6 

Distributing   post   offices   unsatisfactory 17 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  First  Railway  Post  Offices. 

Distribution  on  wheels  advocated 18 

The  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  experiment 19-20 

George  B.  Armstrong 21 

First  permanent  railway  post  office,  Chicago  to  Clinton. . .  .22-24 

Organization     25 

Special  training  for  mail  clerks 26 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Rapid  Development  of  Railway  Mail  Service. 

The  first  Fast  Mail 27-29 

Trunk  lines  become  arteries  of  mail 30 

Civil  Service 30 

Congressional   recognition    31 

Politics  and  civil  service 31-32 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Work  of  a  Railway  Postal  Clerk. 

How  appointments  are  made 33 

Learning  to  be  a  mail  clerk 34-35 

The  scheme  book    36 

Substitute  clerks    36-37 

Study  and  clerical  work  during  week-off 38 

Examinations 39-40 

Desirability  of  runs   41-43 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Special  Work. 

Special  ability 44 

The  Gold  Train   45 

The  mail  follows  the  flag 46 

Cuba  and  the  Philippines 47 

Medals  for  best  examination  records 48 


543192 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Working  Conditions.  Pages 

Early  postal  cars 49 

Modern  cars 50 

Danger  from  wrecks 51 

Mail  cars  were  weaker  than  other  cars 52-53 

Sociology    54 

Associations     55 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Readjustment. 

The  "gag"  order 56 

Unsatisfactory  working  conditions 57 

Maladministration     58 

The  Harpoon    59 

Impairing  the  service    60 

Opposition   to   Hitchcock's  policies 61 

The  Tracy  &  Pierre  incident 61-62 

Congressional  action   63-67 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Conclusion  of  Part  One. 

Extent  of  Railway  Mail  Service 69-70 

Reform   measures   suggested 71 

Favored  government  service 72-73 


Part  II — Incidents  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service 

My  First  Run   (E.  M.  Martindale)  ' 76-79 

Tom,  the  Sub.    ( Robert  Prather )    80-85 

Turner's  Yarns    (John  Turner)    86-88 

Another  First  Trip  (Russell  Danneil)    88 

She    (Ex.)    89-91 

A  Wager  (V.  Curtis)    91 

A  Hold  Up  (A.  B.  Merville)    91-94 

A  Ride  for  Nothing  (Anon.)   94-97 

A  Near  Wreck  (Alpha  E.  Smith)   97 

An  Odd  Catch  (H.  C.  Stewart) 98 

A  Catching  Problem  (A.  D.  B.)    98-100 

The  Warblers    (Chas.  H.  Olmsted)    100-101 

Dean  of  Railway  Postal  Clerks   (W.  J.  D.)    102-105 

A  Good  Catch  (Anon.  II.)    105-106 

Paraphernalia    ( Anon. )    107-109 

A  Yarn  (Theo.  H.  Meyer)    109 

Lunching  on  the  Santa  Fe  (Frank  E.  Page)   110-111 

A  Train  Robbery  ( S.  Chamberlain)  111-117 

Owney,  The  Postal  Clerks'  Dog  (W.  J.  D.)    118-120 

A  Ballad  of  the  Town  (Henry  Ackley,  in  The  Survey,  April  3,  1915)  .  .121 

A  Remarkable  Wreck  ( E.  M.  M. )    122-123 

The  Little  Village  Church   (W.  D.)    124-125 


Illustrations 

Railway  Postal  Car  at  Panama  Exposition Facing  Preface 

Fast  Mail  Train  11,  Pennsylvania  Lines Facing  Page  11 

George  B.  Armstrong,  Founder  and  First  General  Super- 
intendent Railway  Mail  Service  "  "       21 

George   B.  Armstrong  School,   Chicago "  "       25 

New  York  and  Chicago  Railway  Post  Office "  "       27 

Specimen  Page,  North  Dakota  Scheme  Book "  "       35 

Getting  Ready  for  a  Case  Examination "  "       39 

Advanced  Distribution  in  Railroad  Yards,  Train  3,  M.  & 

St.  L "  "  /  43 

Interior  Arrangement  of  One  of  the  First  Mail  Cars.  ...       "  "       49 

Albuquerque  &  Los  Angeles  Railway  Post  Office "  "       59 

Great  Northern  Oriental  Limited  Crossing  Arch  Bridge, 

St.  Paul    "  "       63 

Los  Angeles  &  San  Bernardino  Kite  Railway  Post  Office 73 

John  H.  Pitney,  R.  P.  C,  Dean  of  Postal  Clerks "     102 

Owney    "     118 

Omaha  &  Ogden  Railway  Post  Office  Going  Through 

Weber  Canyon,  Utah Facing  Page  121 

A  Memorial  Church,  Eagle  Bridge,  N.  Y.,  Erected  by 

Postal   Clerks  and   Railroad   Men "  "       125 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

PART  I. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE. 

Introduction. 

The  Railway  Mail  Service,  as  a  system  of  traveling  post 
offices,  had  an  almost  revolutionary  effect  on  the  industrial 
history  of  the  United  States.  At  the  time  of  its  successful  and 
permanent  inauguration,  in  1864,  the  country  was  undergoing 
a  remarkable  expansion.  The  North  was  successfully  termi- 
nating the  great  Rebellion,  new  states  were  being  developed 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  others  were  being  carved  out  of 
the  West,  and  railroads  were  being  extended  in  every  direction. 
The  expansion  of  this  period  forms  an  interesting  chapter  in 
our  history,  and  the  consequent  increase  of  mail  caused  a  per- 
plexing problem  for  the  government.  Up  to  this  time  the  man- 
ner of  transporting  mail  was  evolutionary.  The  Railway  Post 
Office  itself  did  not  spring  into  existence  suddenly,  the  full- 
blown idea  of  one  genius  come  to  solve  the  problem  of  con- 
gested mail  in  a  growing  country.  This  fact,  however,  should 
not  discredit  the  work  of  the  man  or  men  who  developed  a 
vague  idea  into  practical  use,  perfected  the  system,  and  planned 
its  organization.  In  order  to  understand  the  revolutionary 
process,  about  to  be  undertaken,  it  will  be  necessary  to  con- 
sider its  evolution. 

Forms  of  postal  service,  or  means  of  communicating  by 
writing,  were  in  existence  centuries  ago.  Cyrus,  the  Elder  of 
Persia,  about  558  B.  C,  established  a  system  of  mounted  mes- 
sengers to  bring  him  written  reports  from  provincial  gover- 
nors.1    Other  Persian  rulers  continued  the  system,  and  later 

1  Railway  Post  Office,  October,  1914. 


t  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

the  Romans  had  a  system  rs,  by  which  Julius  Caesar 

was  able  to  send  a  from  Britain  to  Cicero,  at  Rome,  in 

-eight  days.    The  word  post,  with  its  several  combina- 
-   fr  m  the  Latin  "positus     si  itioned,  because  re- 
lays  were   stationed  at  points   along  the   routes   of  couriers. 
:ian  is  credited  with  establishing  the  first  public  postal 
-    stem,  in  the  third  century.  A.  D.    These  syste  ns     I  :  uriers 
:'   r  :      se  in  author.  me  in  vogue  in  many  places,  and  were 

mor  e    instruments    of    civilization.      Theodoric    and 

Charlemagne  had  postal  communications  with  the  various  par:- 
:  :heir  empires,1  the  University  of  Paris  maintained  a  system 
-  use.  at  first,  by  its  students,  but  later  by  the  public,  and  in 
I  ?  4  Louis  XI  established  post  stations  on  all  the  main  roads 
France.     Marco  Polo  found  a  postal  system  of  some  ten 
thousand  stations  in  operation  in  China,  and  the  Aztecs  are 
known  to  have  maintained  a  swift  foot-messenger  system  in 
Mexi: 

In  wl:  -  now  the  German  Empire,  the  Hansr  I  vras  had 
a  letter  post,  and  during  the.  reign  of  Maximilian.  Franz  of 
Thurn  established  many  routes  throughout  the  realm  of 
Charles  V,  s  me  :£  which  stayed  in  possession  of  the  Thurn 
family  until  I89t  In  1516  public  posts  were  established  in 
Vic  Berlin  and  London,  the  last  of  which  was  the  fore- 

runner ::'  the  first  system  used  in  the  American  colonies. 
Henry  VIII  instituted  the  office  of  Master  of  Posts,  and 
Charles  I.  in  I  : :  issued  a  proclamation  addressed  to  his  "Post 
Masters  In  this  proclamation  he  ordered  a  "running  f  st 
or  two  to  run  night  and  day  between  Edinburgh  and  London, 
to  go  thither  and  come  back  again  in  six  days,  and  to  take  with 
them  all  such  letters  as  shall  be  directed  to  any  post-town  in 
-  near  that  road." 


v  York  Evening  Post. 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE. 
CHAPTER  I. 


American  Posts. 
In  England,  the  transition  from  the  royal  post  to  a  general 
public  post  was  through  a  post  for  merchants  engaged  in  for- 
eign trade.  Letters  to  and  from  foreign  parts  were  sent  to  a 
central  office,  whence  they  were  delivered  to  crown  messen- 
gers or  to  outgoing  ships.  The  first  post  in  America  was  of 
this  kind.  In  1639  the  court  of  E*sex  County.  Mass..  ordered 
that  "all  letters  from  beyond  the  seas  shall  be  deposited  with 
Richard  Fairbanks  of  Boston."  whose  commission  was  one 
penny  each  for  their  delivery.  On  petition  of  several  mer- 
chants, the  court  appointed,  in  1677,  John  Howard,  scrivener, 
"to  take  in  and  convey  letters  according  to  their  direction/' 

Other  colonies  established  post  offices  in  a  short  time. 
Virginia  even  passed  a  law.  requiring  each  planter  receiving  a 
communication,  to  pass  it  along  to  his  neighbor  under  penaltv 
of  forfeiting  a  hogshead  of  tobacco.  New  York  soon  estab- 
lished posts,  and  by  1672  a  carrier  was  making  monthly  trips 
from  that  city  to  Boston,  the  first  post  route  authorized  bv 
colonial  government.  William  Penn  established  a  post  office 
at  Philadelphia  in  1683.  and  started  a  route  to  Xew  Castle. 
This  post  made  one  trip  a  week,  after  duly  publishing  his  de- 
parture on  the  meeting  house  door  and  other  public  places. 
In  Virginia  a  measure  was  presented  to  the  Assembly  to  make 
"Mr.  Xeal.  Postmaster  General  of  Virginia  and  other  points 
in  America."'  This  measure,  of  course,  could  not  become  ef- 
fective, and  it  shows,  not  only  the  conceptions  of  the  size  of 
America  then  current,  but  shows  also  the  disposition  of  the 
colonists  to  promote  the  transmission  of  intelligence. 


8  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

In  1710  the  British  parliament  passed  an  act,  authorizing 
an  imperial  post  office  system,  with  a  Postmaster  General  in 
London  and  deputies  in  the  colonies.  The  Postmaster  General 
was  authorized  to  keep  one  chief  letter  office  in  New  York, 
and  others  in  convenient  places  in  each  province.  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  made  deputy  postmaster  of  Philadelphia  in  1737, 
and  later,  in  1753,  was  commissioned  Deputy  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral of  America.  The  business  in  America  had  yielded  no  rev- 
enue to  the  crown,  and  Franklin  was  to  receive  £600  per  year, 
provided  he  could  make  that  much  out  of  it.  When  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  assumed  management  of  the  postal  affairs 
of  the  colonies,  it  recognized  Franklin's  experience  and  ability, 
and  appointed  him  Postmaster  General  of  the  colonies  at  a 
salary  of  $1,000  a  year,  with  $340  additional  for  a  secretary. 
In  the  work  of  Ebenezer  Hazard,  Franklin's  successor,  we 
have  a  faint  germ  of  the  traveling  post  office.  He  kept  near 
the  headquarters  of  the  Continental  armies,  and  delivered  let- 
ters to  the  soldiers  from  a  knapsack  carried  by  a  servant.  The 
service  of  this,  the  last  colonral  Postmaster  General  to  Wash- 
ington's army,  is  almost  prophetic  of  the  work  of  the  railway 
mail  service  at  Tampa,  Chickamauga  and  Manila,  when  the 
success  of  the  American  armies  was  more  certain. 

Historians  state  that  when  the  new  republic  was  launched, 
the  chief  difficulties  it  encountered  were  the  lack  of  national 
credit  and  central  authority.  The  post  office  department  shared 
in  these  weaknesses.  In  his  report  to  President  Washington, 
Samuel  Osgood,  the  first  Postmaster  General,  complains  of 
infringement   on   the   post   business   by   private   carriers,   and 

failure  to  obtain  revenue  from  foreign  letters. 
p       k?-W  ^  'kis  time  there  were  but  sixty  post  offices 

and  less  than  two  thousand  miles  of  post 
roads  in  the  entire  country.  All  the  business  of  the  "Gen- 
eral Post  Office"  was  transacted  by  the  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, one  assistant,  and  a  clerk.  By  1798  these  had  in- 
creased to  seven  hundred  post  offices  and  sixteen  thousand 
miles  of  post  roads.  The  post  office  at  New  York  City,  at  the 
time  of  our  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  employed  but  four 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  9 

men,  who  were  boarded  by  the  postmaster  at  half  pay.  Five 
years  later,  Boston  had  but  two  clerks  who  were  relieved  for 
dinner  by  the  postmaster  himself. 

During  this  time  post  routes  were  established  as  rapidly 
as  the  growth  of  the  country  warranted.  A  newspaper,  in 
1826,  noted  that  ten  stages  and  twenty-one  mails  departed 
weekly  from  Cincinnati.  As  the  mail  increased  in  amount,  it 
was  noticed  that  its  bulk  consisted  of  newspapers.  This  fact 
prompted  a  New  Hampshire  senator  to  propose  an  amend- 
ment to  the  postal  laws,  making  newspapers  unmailable.  The 
north  and  south  mail,  passing  through  Washington  at  that 
time,  amounted  to  from  ten  to  twenty  bags,  one  of  which 
would  have  held  the  letters.  In  the  light  of  the  present  ton- 
nage, the  proposition  to  eliminate  newspapers  sounds  amus- 
ing, yet  they  constituted  a  problem  that  agitated  the  govern- 
ment until  recent  years. 

The   Post   Office    Department    was    constantly    confronted 

with  the  rivalry  of  private  express,  and  at  one  time  it  was 

necessary  to  maintain  a  speed  of  fifteen  miles  an  hour  on  some 

of  the  principal  routes.     Vigilance  was  required  in  order  to 

compel  the  contractors  to  observe  their  agreements  and  obey 

instructions.     In   some  instances,   in   order  to 
Post  Coaches 

accommodate  extra  passengers  picked  up  along 

the  route,  stage  drivers  threw  off  sacks  of  mail  before  reach- 
ing their  destination.  Occasionally,  in  times  of  bad  roads,  pas- 
sengers made  up  the  amount  of  the  fines  that  would  be  im- 
posed on  the  contractor,  and  he  left  the  mail  behind  to  lessen 
the  burden  of  the  stage  coach. 

Even  in  the  infant  days  of  mail  transportation,  those  in 
charge  appreciated  its  importance  and  strove  for  its  better- 
ment. During  the  first  half  century,  Congress  enacted  very 
little  postal  legislation,  and,  consequently,  practically  all  re- 
sponisbility  for  postal  affairs  centered  on  the  Postmaster  Gen- 
eral, who  was  not  yet  a  cabinet  officer.  Human  nature,  at 
least  in  respect  to  newspapers,  was  much  the  same  then  as 
now.    An  official  of  the  Post  Office  Department  wrote  to  one 


10  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

of  the  mail  contractors:  "If  a  newspaper  to  an  editor  should 
be  detained,  it  would  make  more  noise  than  to  leave  behind  a 
hundred  letters  on  commercial  business.  Let  the  public  in 
every  hamlet  and  dell  be  gratified,  and  every  editor  be  pleased." 
That  zeal  was  employed  in  the  protection  of  the  mail,  is  cer- 
tain. A  driver  was  subject  to  a  fine  of  twenty  dollars  for 
leaving  mail  exposed  to  the  elements,  being  authorized  to 
cover  it  with  either  a  bear  skin  or  oilcloth. 

On  the  other  hand,  zeal  in  the  performance  of  the  postal 
service,  extended  even  to  the  drivers  of  the  post  coaches.  Of- 
ten in  rainy  seasons  the  coaches  were  literally  dragged  miles 
on  their  axles.  When  Dickens  visited  America,  he  said,  when 
telling  of  a  ride  in  a  stage  coach  over  a  "corduroy"  road,  "it 
would  be  impossible  to  experience  a  similar  set  of  sensations 
in  any  other  circumstance,  unless,  perhaps,  attempting  to  go 
up  to  the  top  of  St.  Paul's  in  an  omnibus." 

The  stage  coach,  however,  was  a  tremendous  factor  in  the 
early  development  of  the  country.  Apart  from  its  function 
of  carrying  the  mails,  it  was  the  medium  of  passenger  travel, 
and  regularly  brought  a  whisk  of  romance  to  each  village  and 
town  through  which  it  swept  on  its  ceaseless  journeys.  The 
four  post  horses  are  soon  startled  by  the  snort  of  the  iron 
horse,  which,  after  a  contest,  at  first  about  equal,  and  later 
overwhelming,  is  to  supersede  them  as  conveyors  of  the  na- 
tion's mail. 

The  advent  of  the  steam  engine,  in  the  field  of  transporta- 
tion, marks  an  important  epoch.1  The  first  locomotive  in 
America  ran  on  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Co.  Road 
at  Honesdale,  Pa.,  in  August,  1829.  A  month  later  the  South 
Carolina  Company  adopted  the  locomotive  for  its  railroad. 
The  horse  was  not  to  be  deposed  immediately  by  steam,  for 
the  following  year  a  powerful  horse,  belonging  to  a  stage 
driver,  outran  Peter  Cooper's  engine,  Tom 
Thumb,  at  Endicott  Mills.  But  soon  steam 
became  more  successful.  At  a  contest  at  Baltimore  the  next 
year,  a  locomotive  built  by  Phineas  Davis  attained  a  speed  of 
1  History  of  Travel  in  America,  V.  9,  P.  56. 


THE  LfBRARY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  11 

thirty  miles  an  hour.  Of  course,  the  average  speed,  even  for 
a  short  distance,  was  much  less  than  this,  and  in  view  of  the 
scattered  short  stretches  of  railroad,  the  stage  coach  was,  for 
many  years,  the  more  important  factor  in  transportation. 

In  1832  Mr.  O.  B.  Brown,  of  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment, wrote  to  Nathaniel  Green,  postmaster  of  Boston, 
concerning  the  carrying  of  mail  a  part  of  the  distance  be- 
tween these  cities  on  the  Camden  &  Amboy  R.  R.,  when 
it  should  be  completed.  Three  years  later  the  govern- 
ment authorized  the  contractors,  Stokes  &  Stokes,  to  trans- 
port the  mail  from  Washington  to  Baltimore  by  railroad 
during  the  remainder  of  their  contract  period.  Although 
a  contract  was  made  in  the  later  part  of  1836,  directly  with  a 
railroad,  the  practice  for  many  years  yet  was  to  let  the  con- 
tract to  stage  companies,  who  sublet  parts  of  the  work  to  rail- 
roads. Postmasters  were  required  to  keep  a  register  of  the 
arrival  and  departure  of  all  mails,  and  to  forward  these  rec- 
ords to  the  Postmaster-General  weekly  from  those  offices  lo- 
cated on  the  stage,  steamboat,  and  railroad  routes,  and  monthly 
from  those  located  on  horseback  and  sulky  routes.  The  first 
trains  ran  only  in  the  daytime,  so  that  evening  stage  coaches 
still  afforded  better  accommodation  for  the  day  mail,  particu- 
larly for  the  newspapers  of  that  day. 

The  ever-increasing  demand  for  more  rapid  means  of  com- 
munication, preceding  and  heralding  the  telegraph  and  fast 
mail  train,  brought  about  the  establishing  of  a  romantic  and 
short-lived  pony  express.  This  picturesque,  wild-riding  serv- 
ice lasted  fourteen  months,  being  superseded  by  the  telegraph 
and  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  considera- 
tion in  itself,  as  well  as  in  connection  with  a  history  of  rapid 
transportation.  In  1869  the  state,  of  Califor- 
Ine  Fony  n^  together  with  adjacent  territory,  contained 

*  half  a  million  people.     Add  to  this  Eldorado, 

her  military  and  political  possibilities,  it  can  easily  be  seen 
that  California  was  much  valued  by  the  North  and  coveted  by 
the  South.  Owing  to  vast  mountainous  stretches  between, 
many  persons  doubted  if  the  Pacific  coast  could  ever  become 


12  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

a  valuable  and  perfect  part  of  the  nation  east  of  the  Rockies, 
owing  principally  to  lack  of  regular  communication. 

The  pony  express  was  advocated  and  started  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  B.  B.  Frecklin,  general  superintendent 
of  a  stage  and  freighting  company  at  Leavenworth,  Kan.  It 
had  the  backing  of  Senator  William  Gwin,  of  California,  who 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  secure  for  it  a  government 
mail  subsidy.  A  number  of  western  stage  and  freighting  com- 
panies pooled  interests,  and  the  enterprise  was  finally  launched 
on  April  3,  1860,  amid  much  enthusiasm  and  ceremony.1  On 
that'  date  a  rider  left  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  on  the  arrival  of 
the  train  from  the  East,  and  amid  the  flare  of  bands  dashed 
to  the  river,  was  ferried  over,  and  raced  madly  westward  with 
his  saddle  pouch  of  mail.  Across  Kansas  by  the  way  of  Fort 
Kearney,  on  by  the  way  of  Laramie,  Great  Salt  Lake  City, 
Carson  City,  Placerville,  and  Sacramento,  relays  of  riders 
raced  at  full  speed.  Over  vast  plains,  through  the  rugged 
Rockies,  through  the  alkali  desert  of  Nevada  and  the  snow 
speaks  of  the  Sierras,  a  square-shaped  mail  pouch  with  its  four 
padlocked  pockets  was  carried 'in  ten  to  twenty-five-mile  re- 
lays over  the  nineteen  hundred  and  sixty-six  miles  in  nine  days 
and  twenty-three  hours.  This  time  was  fully  ten  days  less 
than  that  of  the  best  stage  coach.  It  was  a  wonderful  event 
for  the  West,  and,  although  the  messenger  arrived  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night,  San  Francisco  turned  out  and  gave  him  a  rous- 
ing reception.  The  mail  pouch,  which  had  cut  ten  days  off  the 
previous  time  required  in  crossing  the  continent,  contained 
about  eighty  pieces  of  mail,  including  a  congratulatory  message 
from  President  Buchanan  to  the  governor  of  California.  The 
regular  schedule  at  first  allowed  ten  days  for  the  trip  during 
eight  months  of  the  year  and  twelve  days  during  the  winter. 
Later  this  was  lowered  to  eight  and  ten  days  respectively,  while 
Lincoln's  inauguration  address  was  carried  in  the  still  shorter 
time  of  seven  days  and  seventeen  hours. 

Twenty  pounds  of  mail  could  be  carried  in  the  mochila,  or 
saddle  bag,  and  the  average  was  about  fifteen.     The  rate,  at 
1  Pony  Express. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  13 

first,  was  $5  a  half  ounce  letter,  but  it  was  later  reduced  to 
$1.  The  pony  postage  on  a  business  letter  often  amounted  to 
$25,  and  on  each  east-bound  trip  an  average  of  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  letters  was  carried.  However,  the  pony  ex- 
press didn't  pay.  The  amount  necessary  for  the  purchase  of 
horses,  maintenance  of  stations  and  roads,  and  for  the  salaries 
of  the  eighty  riders  required,  along  with  the  expenses  of  In- 
dian depredation,  spelled  its  financial  doom.  A  daily  stage 
service  was  installed  in  July,  1861,  across  the  Rock  Mountains, 
and  a  telegraph  line  was  completed  in  October,  at  which  time 
the  pony  express  service  was  discontinued.  This  short  and 
spectacular  service  holds  an  unique  place  in  the  history  of 
communication.  The  faithfulness  and  skill  of  the  racing  mes- 
sengers is  remarkable.  Among  these  messengers  are  the  names 
of  many  historic  western  characters,  including  William  F. 
Cody,  the  celebrated  scout.  Mark  Twain,  describing  a  trip 
by  stage  to  California,  says  of  the  passing  of  a  pony  rider,  "a 
whiz  and  hail,  and  the  swift  phantom  of  the  desert  was  gone 
before  we  could  get  our  heads  out  of  the  window."  So,  after 
a  short  and  romantic  existence,  neglected  by  the  government, 
whose  history  it  had  so  vitally  affected,  and  beaten  by  the 
science  of  the  telegraph  and  steam,  the  pony  express,  the  su- 
preme achievement  of  the  horse  and  forerunner  of  the  fast 
mail,  passed  out  of  existence. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  MAIL  DISTRIBUTION. 

In  colonial  days,  the  few  letters  sent  by  post  were  placed 
loose  in  the  postmanteau  or  saddle  bags  of  the  carrier,  who 
picked  them  out  and  delivered  them  either  to  the  postmaster 
or,  at  first,  "as  directed."  As  the  amount  of  letters  increased, 
those  for  separate  towns  along  the  route  were  wrapped  into 
packets,  on  which  was  written  the  name  of  the  town.  When 
the  pouch,  which  later  came  into  use,  was  received  at  a  post 
office  from  the  post  rider  or  stage  driver,  the  postmaster  took 
out  the  packet  for  his  office  and  placed  outgoing  letters  within, 
completing  the  exchange  while  the  carrier    changed    horses. 

Since  outgoing  letters  were  not  all  destined  for 
Distributing  t^  same  place  certain  offices,  usually  the 
Post  Offices       ,  F        '        ,     .        .    .     '  .     '  .. 

larger   ones,   were   designated   as    distributing 

points,  to  which  all  letters  for  that  region  and  beyond  were 
sent  for  redistribution.  Philadelphia  made  up  a  packet  for 
New  York  direct,  and  another  for  New  York  distribution. 
The  latter  packet,  called  New  York  Dis.,  contained  letters 
for  points  near  and  beyond  that  city.  With  the  growth  of 
the  country,  Congress,  in  1810,  established  thirty-five  distribut- 
ing post  offices,  and  later  increased  the  number  to  fifty.  Post- 
masters received  a  commission  for  redistribution  at  these  dis- 
tributing points,  which  greatly  increased  their  salaries. 

There  was  little  change  and  less  regulation  in  regard  to  the 
manner  of  mail  distribution  until  1850.  When  steam  entered 
the  field  of  transportation,  the  old  stage  coach  methods,  natur- 
ally enough,  were  applied  at  first  to  railroads.  In  making  ar- 
rangements for  carrying  the  mail  from  Philadelphia  to  Balti- 
more by  rail,  the  agent  for  the  Post  Office  Department  stated 
that  the  Department  wished  the  mail  to  be  carried  in  a  strong 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  15 

box  or  chest,  that  could  be  taken  from  the  trains  at  the  terminal 
and  conveyed  to  the  post  office.  He  suggested  that  a  room  or 
apartment  might  be  provided  in  the  baggage  car,  and  that  an 
agent  of  the  department  should  unlock  it  at  stations  and  ter- 
minals. Owing  to  the  lack  of  night  trains  in  the  first  days  of 
railroads,  the  agents  also  suggested  that  the  railroad  companies 
permit  the  government  to  own  and  run  a  mail  coach  over 
their  road  at  night.  Like  proposals  were  made  to  the  other 
railroad  companies.  All  refused  to  consider  allowing  the  gov- 
ernment to  run  a  coach  on  their  road,  but  one  official,  the 
president  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  &  Baltimore  R.  R., 
offered  to  grant  the  government  a  perpetual  free  mail  fran- 
chise on  his  road  if  the  government  in  return  would  take  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  stock. 

On  recommendation  of  the  Postmaster-General,  Congress, 
in  1838,  declared  all  railroads  to  be  post  roads.  The  Post- 
master-General had  also  recommended  that  the  government 
should  subscribe  stock  in  all  the  railroad  companies,  and  se- 
cure in  return  a  perpetual  mail  route  on  those  roads.  Un- 
fortunately Congress  refused  to  do  this,  when  it  could  have 
been  done  easily,  and  left  a  bone  of  contention, — the  question 
of  pay  to  railroads  for  transporting  the  mail, — for  future  legis- 
lators. 

The  method  of  carrying  the  mail  on  railroad  trains  was 
at  first  very  unsettled.  The  use  of  a  box  or  chest  originated 
from  the  practice,  then  current  on  steamboats,  and  the  prac- 
tice continued  in  a  small  way  on  railroads.  The  box  was  dis- 
placed, however,  by  the  pouch, — the  same  pouch  used  on  the 
stage  coach.  In  a  few  cases,  at  first,  postmasters  came  to 
the  trains,  opened  the  pouches  and  exchanged 
Koute  gen  s  pacicetS;  but  ^[s  practice  was  soon  discon- 
tinued, and  men  called  route  agents  were  placed  on  some  of  the 
trains.  The  route  agent  at  first  dispatched  at  each  station  a 
pouch  which  had  been  made  up  at  the  distributing  post  office 
at  the  end  of  his  route.  He  also  loaded  and  unloaded  the  mail 
and  acted  as  an  escort  for  its  safe  conduct.    Later,  route  agents 


16  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

were  provided  with  small  letter  boxes  in  a  part  of  the  bag- 
gage car,  where  they  opened  the  pouches  received  en  route, 
took  out  all  mail  for  way  stations,  and  put  in  them  the 
packets  for  those  offices.  All  mail  going  to  points  other  than 
those  on  their  route,  they  gave  to  the  distributing  post  office  at 
the  end  of  the  run.  Important  distributing  post  offices  made  up 
pouches  for  other  important  offices  beyond  the  end  of  the  run 
of  a  route  agent.  These  pouches  were  provided  with  brass 
locks,  to  which  the  route  agent  had  no  key,  his  only  concern 
being  with  the  local  pouches,  which  were  provided  with  iron 
locks.  This  local  distributing  by  route  agents  was  not  so 
important  as  it  would  now  seem,  for  there  were  few  towns  en 
route  and  little  local  business,  yet  it  was  a  forward  step  in  the 
handling  of  mail. 

The  delay  and  expense,  connected  with  the  system  of  dis- 
tributing post  offices,  caused  the  Department  no  little  trouble. 
Distributing  post  offices  had  not  been  well  regulated,  and  ef- 
forts were  now  made  to  systematize  them.  A  general  scheme 
for  making  up  mail  into  through  or  direct  sacks  and  packets 
for  a  place  where  the  quantity  warranted  it  was  prepared, 
showing  also  to  what  distributing  offices  mail  should  be  sent 
for  certain  towns.  These  distributing  offices  were  located  at 
junction  points,  and  were  to  be  used  because  they  were  on 
the  direct  route  to  the  mail's  final  destination.  Copies  of  this 
scheme  of  distribution  were  sent  to  all  postmasters  at  distribut- 
ing post  offices.  In  1857  the  Department  ordered  the  dispatch 
of  pouches,  in  care  of  baggagemen  or  expressmen,  to  points 
beyond  the  nearest  distributing  post  office,  perhaps  to  the  farth- 
est one,  saving  the  time  and  work  of  redistributing  at  each 
intervening  distributing  post  office.  These  efforts  expedited 
the  delivery  of  mail  somewhat,  and  resulted  in  the  discontinu- 
ing of  thirteen  distributing  post  offices  in  1859. 

The  matter  of  distribution  continued  to  be  vexatious.  The 
principal  trouble  of  the  system  was  set  forth  at  a  meeting  of 
special  agents  of  the  post  office  department  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
in  1863,  in  the  following  language :  "The  emoluments  derived 
by  postmasters  at  distributing  offices  consist  of  a  commission 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  17 

on  the  letters  distributed.  Originally  the  commission  was  5 
per  cent  on  letter  postage  paid  and  unpaid.  This  was  after- 
wards increased  by  law  to  7  per  cent,  and  then  to  \2]/2  per  cent, 
at  which  it  now  stands.  It  is  obviously  to  the  interest  of 
those  having  charge  of  such  offices,  to  increase  business  of  this 
kind  to  the  utmost,  and  though  expressly  forbidden  by  the 
Department  to  invite  distribution  from  its  legitimate  channel, 
it  has  often  been  done,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  post  office 
revenue  has  in  this  manner  been  largely  defrauded.  Letters 
have  been  subjected  to  so  many  distributions  as  entirely  to  ab- 
sorb the  postage  charged  upon  them;  and  in  some  cases  the 

distribution  commission  of  a  postmaster  has 
Distributing  largely  exceeded  the  whole  proceeds  of  his  of- 
Post  Offices  fi  an(j  requjred  a  balance  to  be  paid  him  quar- 
Unsatisfactory        ,     ,  ,,  t-  i  * 

terly  from  other  sources,    Even  when  no  abuse 

is  practiced  and  letters  are  subjected  to  only  the  necessary  dis- 
tribution, a  large  portion  of  the  correspondence  of  the  country 
pays  an  unnecessary  tax  of  25  per  cent,  besides  the  regular 
commission  of  40,  50,  or  60  per  cent,  to  which  the  mailing 
office  is  entitled.  For  instance,  a  hundred  letters, 'on  which 
the  postage  is  $3.00,  originating  in  small  offices  in  Ohio 
and  west  of  Pittsburgh,  and  destined  for  New  England,  are 
sent  to  Pittsburgh  for  distribution  and  there  subjected  to 
a  commission  of  12^4  per  cent ;  from  Pittsburgh  they  are  sent 
to  New  York  or  Boston,  and  there  charged  with  a  second  com- 
mission of  12^4  per  cent,  and  then  forwarded  to  destination. 
Assuming  the  average  commission  taken  at  the  mailing  to  be 
50  per  cent,  this  three  dollars'  worth  of  letters  pays  a  tax  of 
75  per  cent  in  the  shape  of  commissions  while  passing  through 
the  mail,  or  $2.25  out  of  $3.00." 

Neither  the  conference  of  special  agents  nor  the  Postmaster- 
General  arrived  at  any  definite  plan  for  remedying  the  abuses 
in  distribution  prevalent  in  the  postal  system,  nor  advanced 
any  satisfactory  ideas  for  handling  the  ever-increasing  amount 
of  mail.  The  solution  of  these  problems  was  left  to  men  lower 
in  rank  in  service.  These  men  suggested  that  the  distributing 
post  office  be  put  on  wheels,  and  attempted  to  demonstrate 
that  it  could  be  done. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  FIRST  RAILWAY  POST  OFFICES. 
England  and  France  had  a  system  of  "traveling  post  of- 
fices" prior  to  1840,  but  little  is  known  of  the  nature  of  the 
work  which  they  performed.  Mr.  George  Plit  was  sent  to 
Europe  hy  the  Post  Office  Department  to  investigate  postal 
affairs  there.  His  report,  in  1840,  indicates  that  the  European 
traveling  post  office  system  was  similar  to  our  route  agent 
system,  but  that  the  train  service  was  superior,  and  that  the 
railroad  companies  furnished  better  facilities  to  the  govern- 
ment. Eight  years  later  Mr.  S.  R.  Hobbie,  First  Assistant 
Postmaster-General,  investigated  the  postal  systems  of  Eng- 
land and  France,  but  had  little  to  report  concerning  their 
traveling  post  offices.  He  was  evidently  not  impressed  very 
favorably  with  their  adaptability  to  conditions  in  America, 
particularly  since  "our  cars  do  not  run  steadily  enough  for  so 
much  clerkly  work." 

There  was  in  Washington,  however,  a  man  who  became 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  idea  of  traveling  post  offices.  He 
was  the  topographer  of  the  Post  Office  Department,  Mr.  H. 
A.  Burr,  who  had  prepared  a  post  route  map,  and  in  1853  had 
revised  and  completed  a  general  scheme  of  instruction  for  use 
in  distributing  post  offices.  Mr.  Burr  also  had  observed  the 
work  of  the  postal  service  in  England  and  France,  and  main- 
tained that  a  system  of  traveling  post  offices  could  be  devised 
for  use  in  America.  While  preparing  the  distribution  scheme, 
he  became  convinced  that  so  long  as  mail  was 

/V      iiJl10!1        stopped  in  transit  at  distributing:  post  offices, 
On     Wheels  *%  . ■  ,  , 

no  scheme  could  be  devised  that  would  prevent 

passengers  and  express  from  outstripping  it.     This  last  fact 

had  brought  much  criticism  on  the  government  mail  service. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  19 

He  maintained  that  in  order  to  secure  the  fastest  mail  service, 
it  was  necessary  to  abolish  distribution  in  post  offices,  and  to 
transfer  that  work  "over  the  car  wheels."  Mr.  Burr  died  in 
March,  1863,  after  living  to  see  a  trial  of  his  theories,  which 
trial  was  partially  successful,  and  strange  to  say,  was  coin- 
cidental. 

At  this  time  the  overland  mail  to  California  was  carried  by 
train  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  whence  it  was  transferred  to 
stage  coaches.  The  overland  stage  left  St.  Joseph  about  three 
hours  after  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Jos- 
eph train  from  the  East,  which  was  often  late,  and  thus  caused 
the  mail  to  miss  the  stage.  Even  when  the  train  was  on  time, 
it  required  fast  work  to  sort  the  mail  in  the  distributing  post 
office  at  St.  Joseph,  and  to  get  that  for  California  out  for  the 
overland  stage.  The  Clerk  in  charge  of  the  St.  Joseph  dis- 
tributing post  office,  Mr.  W.  A.  Davis,  conceived  the  idea  of 

transferring  this  distribution  to  a  car  on  the 

Tne  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  train,  so  that  on  its  ar- 

•  josep  ,        ■» rival  at  St.  Joseph,  the  California  mail  would 

be  ready  to  be  conveyed  directly  from  the  train 
to  the  stage.  Mr.  Davis,  after  consulting  tth  postmaster  at 
St.  Joseph,  J.  L.  Bittinger,  wrote  to  Washington,  setting  forth 
his  plan  of  gaining  time  on  the  overland  mail.  In  spite  of  the 
well-known  conservatism  of  the  Post  Office  Department  the 
plan  found  favor,  and  on  July  7,  1862,  the  Assistant  Postmas- 
ter-General, Mr.  G.  W.  McClelland,  took  the  first  steps  toward 
esablishing  a  railway  post  office,  and  entrusted  the  details  of 
the  plan  to  A.  B.  Waller,  special  agent  at  Washington. 

That  the  primary  object  of  the  enterprise  was  to  avoid  the 
delay  of  redistribution  at  St.  Joseph,  and  that  the  Depart- 
ment had  no  idea  of  a  distinct  and  separate  railway  mail  serv- 
ice, is  clearly  seen  in  the  letter  from  the  Assistant  Postmaster- 
General  to  the  Postmaster  of  St.  Joseph.  The  letter  is  as 
follows:  "With  a  view  to  expedite  the  transmission  of  mails 
by  the  overland  California  route,  the  Postmaster-General  has 
directed  that  the  separation,  distribution,  and  bagging  of  these 
mails,  now  done  at  the  post  office  at  St.  Joseph,  be  performed 


20  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

hereafter  on  the  cars  of  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  R.  R.  by  a 
clerk,  detailed  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  the  details  of  this 
duty.  Mr.  A.  B.  Waller,  a  special  agent  of  the  Department,  has 
been  directed  to  proceed  over  the  route  and  visit  your  office  and 
others,  and  you  are  requested  to  furnish  him  all  the  aid  and  in- 
formation in  your  power,  tending  to  make  the  arrangement  as 
complete  as  possible.  It  is  designed  that  the  work  be  done  as 
a  part  of  the  business  of  your  office;  the  car  for  this  purpose  to 
be  considered  as  a  room  in  the  office;  the  bills  to  be  made  out 
and  the  accounts  to  be  kept  as  at  present  in  the  name  of  the 
office,  the  usual  distribution  commission  being  charged  as  is 
now  done,  and  the  monthly  returns  made  to  this  office  of  let- 
ters and  papers  sent  and  received  as  practiced  for  the  year 
past." 

Temporary  mail  cars  were  fitted  out  at  Hannibal,  Mo.,  and 
on  September,  1862,  Mr.  Davis  commenced  sorting  out  the 
California  mail  on  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  train  at  Pal- 
myra, Missouri.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  clerk  from  the  St. 
Joseph  post  office,  Mr.  Guy  Bar.ton,  representing  the  postmas- 
ter at  St.  Joseph,  and  by  Mr.  Thomas  Clark,  Superintendent  of 
distribution  in  the  New  York  post  office,  who  was  considered 
a  sort  of  national  authority  on  sorting  mail.  The  experiment 
was  altogether  successful,  saving  the  frequent  delays  to  over- 
land mail  at  St.  Joseph.  However,  it  merely  contemplated  the 
work  of  a  distributing  post  office,  and,  so  far  as  is  known,  per- 
formed no  distribution  for  towns  along  the  line.  During  the 
spring  of  1863,  the  service  was  discontinued  for  some  reason 
and  taken  up  again  by  the  St.  Joseph  post  office.  These  facts 
preclude  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  from  being  the  first  rail- 
way post  office  in  the  United  States,  but  the  experiment  estab- 
lished firmly  the  principle  of  sorting  mail  on  trains. 

The  spring  of  1864  found  the  Post  Office  Department  tak- 
ing steps  to  start  traveling  post  office  service  in  the  East.  Mr. 
A.  N.  Zevely  was  "specially  charged  with  the  duties  of  or- 
ganizing the  business  of  traveling  post  offices,"  and  notified 
the  Finance  Division  that  he  expected  to  have  lines  established 
between  Washington  and  New  York,  and  New  York  and  Cleve- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


George  B.  Armstrong — Permanent  Founder  and   First 
General  Superintendent  RaiiW2y  Mail  Service. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  21 

land  by  July  1st.  Several  railroad  companies  were  asked  to 
provide  cars  for  an  experimental  trip,  in  which  it  could  be 
ascertained  what  equipment  was  necessary  for  traveling  post 
office  service.  Mr.  Thomas  Clark,  of  New  York,  naturally  was 
expected  to  have  charge  of  the  details  of  sorting  mail  on  the 
cars.  The  exact  nature  of  the  sorting,  which  was  expected  to 
be  done,  was  not  clear,  but  it  would  necessarily  be  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  methods  used  in  distributing  post 

ueorge  a.  offices.     Before  the  new  post  office  cars  were 

Armstrong  ,      ,       _  ,     ,  •  ,        , 

completed,    the    Department    had    considered 

plans  of  postal  reforms  submitted  by  Mr.  George  B.  Armstrong, 
assistant  postmaster  at  Chicago.  Mr.  Armstrong  had  been  em- 
ployed in  the  Department  at  Washington  during  the  time  that 
Mr.  Burr  was  revising  his  scheme  for  distributing  post  offices, 
and  doubtless  had  heard  of  the  latter's  ideas  concerning  travel- 
ing post  offices.  He  had  also  been  stationed  for  a  time  as  a 
special  agent  of  the  post  office  department  at  Cairo,  111., 
when  that  office  was  swamped  with  army  mail,  and  doubtless 
had  observed  the  auxiliary  mail  service  of  the  army.  The  con- 
gestion of  the  mail  for  the  Northwest,  referred  to  in  the  in- 
troduction, was  a  big  problem  for  the  Chicago  distributing 
post  office,  and  Mr.  Armstrong  became  convinced  that  the  only 
solution  was  a  post  office  on  wheels. 

Mr.  Armstrong  further  comprehended  a  general  reorgan- 
ization of  the  postal  service  of  the  country  on  lines  more  in 
keeping  with  its  progress.  He  thought  on  these  reforms  for 
some  time,  and  sent  a  prospectus  of  his  idea  in  writing  to  the 
Post  Office  Department  at  Washington  in  May,  1864,  after  a 
personal  interview  there.  His  plan  contemplated  the  simplify- 
ing of  post-billing,  the  discontinuing  of  wrapping  packets  with 
paper,  the  reclassification  of  post  offices,  and  the  establishing 
of  railway  distribution  for  both  local  and  through  points.  This 
last  feature  he  considered  the  main  part  of  his  plan,  for  in  his 
prospectus  we  read : 

"But  the  main  feature  of  the  plan,  which,  after  its 
introduction  and  final  adaption  to  the  service,  would 
undoubtedly  lead  to  the  most  important  results,  is  the 


THE  I  3  POST  OFF 

:   : :-.       T  : 
--_---       :        - "       r  r  r       7    :::::   ='- :  u.  z  ':  ±   :: :    : :: :  r :  r  _ :  - 

-   :r.        :    r  :-  .:  r  :   ::  '.crier;  in  rhe  rrri:'.    ir.i    rheref  :rr 

-  . .  -    -  ■ 

;rem  i~  z  :ss::lr    r:  ri  er- 

:5::ei  ;        ?:    :rrrrr  n  rhe  Lis:  ~:~er.r  :: 

■  :    iernrrure   i:  rhe  — 2    -  :r   nr  rhe   :rh:e  ::r  r.eir   :r 

Tr    -      -:. :    ::i    t.        :h   rhe  -r.:~:er- 

:      -  - :    r  e  z  ~  :     -       r  z. '.  i :  e  5   : :        - :  -  :z  - 

rren  ir  -  irh  rhe  I  ::i"  ren:  : ::  :  -  - 

transportation  of  the  mails  permit.     It  is  well  known 

::   rhe  zziz.zz  r   mr  rirrenger;    :r  r    :    er  n: r:ii 

"     -     .         -  :-\\}-   p-rtz.  -  :        '   .7  > 

"  -  :      "       "   ^     t         :  :nr  lerrer;   —  .  -  ■    ;  ~- ;  -       :.  :er 

"7      "7-7:   f-:7~.    mr      z  z  z    i-srnrurm;    :m:e     zzi 

■  i.enie  :       ■,  -  _   ;r:,-e5=  in 
mrerr                    ■--  -     -     .-   ■  — :  7    1-    :  iirrehy  rhe  rise 

7     :      7-       -     ;i;  :"r:;.:"r-i:-i:t:Vir.:rei=e"d      I 

■  -  -    rzzi  ±-:z±zzl    ::'  :i  .■■!-■    :-.;::       -  -7-   : 


2— iin  rhe   sime   relerrry   in   11ns::    as 
iirerr  7 :: .:.-.- 


: .  ;     1 :  - 


-   -    z. 


' 


ir   —h    ;.-.   :'- 
Amrsrr    -g 
his  ideas  of  pasta 

"-      :":-  rer: 


:  ~ : ±  :  ir.  ~  mne  i  "r  y  r  :! er-:;  fr: rn  rh e  _ hi r^  ii;rr  iri  r.  =: 
:-:s:  -  7  !  .':  he  nr:  in:  !  >  'riiiev  ;--.  z~zz.zzzzz 
by  Mr.  Armstrong  with  a  few  commercial  and  newspaper  ac- 
quaintances, made  a  trip  over  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERYI    I  :: 

Clin:  August  28.  1864.    Mr.  Leonard  and  Mr. 

nverse  were  permaner.:!;     issigne  line,   and  t: 

-ran  the  Chici.  Clinton  R^  -        the  firs! 

regular  and  permanent  railway  post  office  in  the  L 

Although   negotiations    were  begun  by    lb     Zeverj 
:ern  railroads  for  cars  for  railway  post  off.  as 

February,  the  first  railway  post  office  east   ::'  the  Aflegfac     es 

went  into  operation  October  15.  1854,  between  Ne  -     md 

Washington.    It  ran  over  the  lines   of  the    lamden  & 

the  Philadelphia.  Wilmington  5c  Baltimore,  and  Baltimore 
Ohio  Railroads.     The  cr  mposed  oi    Jerks    tal 

h   m  the  post  office-  at  V    :-:    Philadelphia,  and  Washing- 

ton.    Aside  from  separating  the  mail  for  local    and   through 
points  they  at  fir-:   lis     sorted  out  for  New  York  ck 
and  for  the  se    zri.  sob-stations.     Letters   only  were   -    ::ed  on 

~  line,  the  paper  mail  still  being  sorted    :     -  -ributing  f 
offices.     The  following  February,  a  railway  post  officr 
t  - 1  iblished  I  n  Xew  V  :  rk  and  Dunkirk,  on  the  ^":      V 

6c  Erie  Railroad.1  and  a  little  later.  I  a  Philadelphia  and 

bs  onrgli    :n  the  Pennsylvania  roads.    No  more  railwa; 
offices  were  established  in  the  east  fort  r  sev- 
eral years  the  new  -                         -ry  si            there      East- 
ern postmasters  were  invariable  opposed  to  the  introc. 
:   the  new   set                  ^use.  aside  from  depriving  thr 
fices  of  the  commission  for  re  nstr             -                     :3m  them 
and  their  friends                 g 

fores        the  reduction  in  the  number  of  me  then 

whose  appointment  they  made,  and  realizec  the  men  who 

mj  rise  the  rail  ail  ser  would  not  be  their 

political  "         -  ?uld  be  ad  on  merit  uld  be 

under  other  -  -     n. 

In  the  West  the  railway  mail  sea  grew  rapidly,  both 

numbers  and  improved    iistribul  ;  igo 

&  Clinton  Railway  pes:  office  came  the 

on  the  Rock  .-'.and:  the  Ch      go  &  Q  the  Bur',     g 

1  Executive  Document  41. 


24  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

route;  the  Chicago  &  St.  Louis,  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  road; 
the  Chicago  &  Centralia,  on  the  Illinois  Central ;  and  the  Clin- 
ton &  Boone,  on  the  Northwestern  road.  A  little  later  the 
"traveling  post  office"  was  reinstated  on  the  Hannibal  &  St. 
Joseph  Railroad  and  performed  regular  distribution,  both  local 
and  through.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  service  in  the  West  was 
due  partly  to  the  enterprise  of  the  new  country,  partly  to  the 
liberality  of  the  railroad  officials  and  partly  to  Mr.  Armstrong, 
who  was  very  enthusiastic  over  the  system.  He  was  appointed 
as  Special  Agent,  in  charge  of  the  new  service  in  the  West,  and 
Messrs.  Wheeler  and  Parks  in  the  East.  Mr.  Armstrong's  con- 
nection with  the  Chicago  post  office  prevented  friction  arising 
between  the  post  office  there  and  the  railway  mail  service,  and 
affected  his  relation  with  railway  postal  clerks,  most  of  whom 
at  first  were  taken  from  the  Chicago  post  office. 

The  work  of  distributing  mail  on  cars  was  so  successful 
that  in  March,  1865,  Congress,  on  recommendation  of  Post- 
master-General Denison,  recognized  the  railway  post  office 
and  authorized  the  Postmaster-General  to  employ  the  neces- 
sary clerks  and  two  special  agents  to  supervise  the  work.  Mr. 
Armstrong  and  Mr.  Parks  were  selected  for  this  work,  the 
former  having  charge  in  the  West  and  the  latter  in  the  East. 
Four  years  later  Mr.  Armstrong  was  given  full  supervision, 
with  headquarters  at  Washington.  The  railway  mail  service, 
as  distinguished  from  post  office  service,  had  its  beginning 
with  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  the  reforms  proposed  by  him  in  gen- 
eral mail  distribution  had  a  vital  effect  on  the  postal  affairs 
of  the  country.  In  his  prospectus  sent  to  Mr.  Zevely,  he  ad- 
vocated discontinuing  the  use  of  wrapping  paper  around 
packages  of  letters  and  the  simplifying  of  the  post-billing  then 
in  vogue.  Instead  of  wrapping  paper  around  twenty-five  let- 
ters for  a  given  town,  and  writing  its  name  on  the  bundle,  his 
idea  was  to  tie  the  package  with  twine,  placing  a  letter  on 
the  top  showing  the  destination  of  itself  and  of  the  whole 
package  as  well.  This  is  called  a  direct  package,  the  making 
of  which  saved  much  work  and  wrapping  paper.  Where  the 
letters  were  for  a  distributing  post  office  or  railway  post  of- 


THE  LIBRARY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITV  Of  ILLINOIS 


The    George    B.    Armstrong    School,    Chicago — Public    School 
Named  After  the  Founder  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  25 

fice,  they  were  to  be  tied  with  twine  into  a  package,  on  top 
of  which  was  placed  a  post  bill,  showing  the  name  of  that 
railway  or  distributing  post  office. 

For  the  purpose  of  co-ordinating  and  supervising  the  work 
of  railway  mail  transportation,  Mr.  Armstrong  planned  an 
organization  which  was  adopted  by  the  Postmaster-General 
July  1,  1869.  By  this  plan  all  railroad  mail  service,  including 
route  agents,  express  routes,  and  baggage  mail,  was  merged 
with  the  railway  post  office  service  under  the  name  of  the 
Railway  Mail  Service.  The  United  States  was  divided  into 
six  divisions  for  the  administration  of  this  service.  The  high- 
est officer  of  the  organization  was  termed  General  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Railway  Mail  Service,  while  the 
°  Division  Officers  were  called  at  first  Assistant 

Superintendents  and  later  Division  Superintendents.  Mr. 
Armstrong  was  made  the  first  General  Superintendent,  and 
served  until  1873,  when  he  resigned,  and  died  a  few  days 
later.  Many  features,  now  in  use,  were  originated  by  the  First 
General  Superintendent,  who,  by  his  successful  trial  of  a 
traveling  post  office,  his  advanced  ideas  of  mail  distribution, 
and  his  organization  of  railway  mail  service  into  a  whole  is 
entitled  to  the  name  of  the  Founder  of  the  Railway  Mail 
Service. 

The  railway  post  office  naturally  found  its  mission,  and 
gradually  absorbed  the  work  of  distributing  post  offices  which 
logically  belonged  to  it.  In  the  fifteen  months  preceding  1872, 
the  New  York  distributing  post  office  discontinued  fifty-seven 
pouch  exchanges  which  it  had  maintained  with  towns  over 
baggage  car  lines,  and  gave  the  mail  unworked  to  railway  post 
offices.  On  the  New  York  &  Harlem  road,  alone,  mail  that 
had  required  the  exchange  of  forty-seven  pouches,  now  was 
dispatched  in  one  pouch  to  the  postal  car,  which  not  only  de- 
livered to  the  towns  en  route  the  mail  from  New  York,  but 
exchanged  mail  for  all  of  them.  About  this  time  the  Albany 
distributing  post  office  discontinued  twenty-five  pouch  ex- 
changes, some  of  which  were  twice  daily.  The  railway  post 
office  now  came  to  be  a  necessary  and  vital  part  of  both  mail 


26  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

distribution  and  transportation ;  and  as  the  railroads  were  ex- 
tended throughout  the  country,  routes  of  railway  post  offices 
were  extended  apace. 

In  the  meantime  the  pioneer  offices  of  the  railway  mail 
service  introduced  the  "three  R's"  of  a  postal  clerk's  training: 
slips,  schemes,  and  examinations,  which  three  later  became 
legion.  Appointments  were  at  first  political,  and  while  a  new 
clerk  was  not  expected  to  know  the  work  at  once,  he  was  ex- 
pected to  learn  it.  Little  or  nothing  had  been  done  in  the 
way  of  organized  instruction  for  sorters  of  mail  since  Mr. 
Burr's  scheme  for  distributing  post  offices  was  sent  out,  and 
each  railway  postal  clerk  was  expected  to  obtain  his  own  in- 
formation. This  could  be  had  from  several  sources,  principal 
of  which  were  from  other  clerks,  from  post  offices  and  from 
maps.  In  1868  a  regular  scheme  was  intro- 
Special  Train-  duced  During  the  two  following  years  the 
mi  n  \r  facmg  S^P  f°r  letter  packages  and  examina- 
tions came  in  order.  The  scheme  contained 
the  names  of  towns  and  showed  on  what  route  or  routes  they 
were  located.  The  first  schemes  were  usually  printed  on 
sheets  of  paper,  but  the  later  ones  came  in  book  form.  The 
facing  slip  was,  and  is  a  small  slip  of  paper,  answering  the 
double  purpose  of  a  label  for  a  letter  package  and  an  identifi- 
cation slip,  showing  the  name  of  the  sorting  clerk  and  the  date 
and  number  of  his  train.  By  this  slip  errors  in  sorting  could 
be  traced,  and  it  soon  came  to  be  an  important  factor  in  de- 
termining the  efficiency  of  clerks.  Shortly  after  the  beginning 
of  road  distribution,  Mr.  Armstrong  suspected  a  few  clerks  of 
lack  of  application  to  study.  He  called  various  ones  to  his 
office  for  questioning,  and  thus  was  able  to  determine  their 
interest  and  information.  The  indolent  ones  were  removed, 
and  examinations  became  a  fixture. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


CHAPTER  IV. 


RAPID  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  second  decade  of  the  history  of  the  railway  mail  serv- 
ice was  a  period  of  very  rapid  development.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  final  gasp  of  opposition  from  a  few  postmasters, 
and  from  enemies  of  the  new  civil  service  laws  that  were  in- 
troduced at  this  time,  the  new  service  experienced  unob- 
structed expansion.  Aside  from  the  development  of  service 
details,  this  expansion  included  the  inauguration  of  fast  mail 
train  service,  the  promulgation  of  civil  service  rules,  and  the 
recognition  by  Congress  of  the  autonomy  of  the  railway  mail 
service,  a  recognition  which  lifted  it  out  of  the  meshes  of  poli- 
tics and  experimentation,  and  established  it  as  a  permanent 
bureau  of  the  government. 

To  Mr.  George  S.  Bangs,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Armstrong 
as  general  superintendent,  is  credited  the  establishment  of  fast 
mail  service  in  1875.  Previous  to  this  time  there  had  been 
some  fast  service  on  short  and  separate  lines,  but  the  value 
of  the  time  made  wias  lost  at  connecting  points.  Mr.  Bangs 
represented  to  Congress  in  his  report  for  1874,  that  by  se- 
curing a  through  and  exclusive  mail  train  over 
A.  ..  J,     .  the  various  connecting    lines    between    New 

York  and  Chicago,  a  saving  would  result  of 
from  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours.  He  was  successful  in  mak- 
ing the  arrangements  for  that  service,  and  the  initial  trip  was 
made  on  September  16,  1875,  with  great  ceremony.  The  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  and  the  Pennsylvania  com- 
panies co-operated  heartily  in  the  enterprise,  and  furnished 
almost  elaborate  equipment. 

The  initial  trip  of  the  fast  mail  was  a  great  event  in  the 
mail  service,  and  it  is  doubtless  if  there  has  been  as  much  pub- 
licity on  the  subject  before  or  since.    The  Post  Office  Depart- 


28  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

ment  was  represented  by  the  General  Superintendent,  Mr. 
Bangs,  and  the  superintendent  of  the  ninth  division,  Mr. 
Thompson,  under  whose  jurisdiction  the  new  service  came. 
Prominent  guests  included  the  vice  president,  the  Hon.  Henry 
Wilson,  Mr.  Carl  Schurz,  and  H.  G.  Pearson,  of  New  York; 
representatives  of  the  press  of  all  the  largest  cities  of  the  East; 
mayors,  postmasters,  railroad  officials,  and  other  notable  men. 
The  train  was  composed  of  four  postal  cars  and  one  draw- 
ing-room coach  for  the  accommodation  of  the  one  hundred 
guests.  The  letter  cars  were  fifty  feet  and  the  paper  cars 
sixty  feet  in  length.  All  were  painted  white,  trimmed  in 
cream  color,  and  ornamented  with  guilt.  Each  car  was  named 
after  the  governor  of  a  state,  the  four  on  the  first  being  Til- 
den,  Dix,  Allen,  and  Todd.  The  name  was  painted  in  a  large 
gilt  oval,  which  also  contained  the  words  "United  States  Post 
Office,"  above  and  below.  "The  Fast  Mail"  was  printed  in 
large  letters  along  the  sides,  and  on  each  end  in  like  letters 
was  the  name  of  the  railroad  company.  At  the  lower  sides 
were  ovals  corresponding  to  those  containing  the  name,  in 
which  were  painted  landscape  scene  backgrounds,  and  in  the 
relief  was  an  all-seeing  eye,  beneath  which  was  a  pyramid 
inscribed  in  gilt  "MDCCCLXXV"  and  the  motto  "Novus  ordo 
secularum."  The  much-adorned  car  also  contained  the  Uni- 
ted States  coat-of-arms. 

A  picked  crew  of  postal  clerks  was  assigned  to  the  fast 
mail,  and  at  New  York  forty-three  pouches  of  letters  were 
received,  663  sacks  of  papers,  and  bundles  containing  50,000 
newspapers,  making  altogether  thirty-three  tons.  At  Albany 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  sacks  of  mail  were  taken  on  from 
Boston  and  the  East,  and  regular  receiving  was  maintained 
by  catcher  at  way-stations,  so  that  the  clerks  had  to  maintain 
fast-mail  speed  in  distribution.  The  trip  of  nine  hundred  miles 
was  made  in  twenty-six  hours,  wlhich  was  about  half  the  time 
formerly  consumed. 

The  event  was  a  matter  of  general  satisfaction  and  con- 
gratulation, but  the  service  that  had  started  with  such  prom- 
ise, and  had  accelerated  the  delivery  of  trans-Ohio  mail  by 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  29 

half  its  former  time,  was  suddenly  withdrawn  in  July  the  next 
year.  By  an  act  of  July  12th,  Congress  reduced  the  rate  of  pay 
to  railroads  ten  per  cent.  The  companies  carrying  the  fast 
mail  had  gone  to  great  expense  for  the  equipment,  the  new 
cars  along  having  cost  $3,000  and  $4,000  each.  These  were  so 
complete  that  the  governments  of  England  and  France  re- 
quested copies  of  them,  both  exterior  and  interior.  In  view 
of  the  extra  expense  involved,  the  companies  concerned  in  the 
New  York  &  Chicago  Fast  Mail  withdrew  the  trains,  as  did 
the  Pennsylvania  from  a  fast  mail  which  was  started  to  In- 
dianapolis. 

The  question  of  mail  pay  is  too  long  and  irrelevant  to  be 
treated  here.  Suffice  to  say  the  Post  Office  Department  based 
the  pay  solely  on  weight,  but  as  extra  room  was  required  for 
distribution  since  the  establishing  of  railway  post  offices,  rail- 
road companies  wanted  additional  pay  for  space.  On  the  other 
hand,  Congress  had  beheld  passenger  and  freight  rates  de- 
crease in  some  instances  to  the  amount  of  one-half  since  1845, 
at  which  time  the  ton  rate  of  pay  for  mail  had  been  established 
by  law.  They  quite  naturally  reduced  the  railroad  mail  pay 
ten  per  cent.  This  move  for  economy  embarrassed  the  of- 
ficials of  the  Railway  Mail  Service  very  much  in  their  efforts 
to  secure  better  connections  and  more  through  mail  trains. 
Later  a  special  facilities  appropriation  was  secured  with  which 
to  obtain  special  concessions  of  service  from  railroad  com- 
panies. 

When  the  Chicago  Fast  Mail  was  withdrawn,  a  wail  went 
up  from  the  public.  The  service  was  not  restored  immediately, 
however.  By  means  of  the  special  appropriation,  concessions 
of  service  from  railroad  companies  were  obtained  regarding 
connections,  so  that  mail  was  diverted  to  certain  trunk  lines, 
that  became  arteries  into  which  the  lesser  lines  poured  their 
mail.  In  this  way,  and  by  the  natural  increase,  it  became  worth 
while,  in  a  few  years,  for  the  trunk  lines  to  establish  fast 
through  trains.  Even  racing  was  later  resorted  to  by  the 
Burlington,  Chicago  &  North  Western,  and  Rock  Island  sys- 
tems, to  get  to  carry  the  trans-continental  mails  between  Chi- 


30  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

cago  and  the  Union  Pacific  Transfer  at  Council  Bluffs.    Now, 

great  fast  mail  trains  span  the  continent  and  link  together  all 

the   principal   cities,   giving  off   tributaries    to 

Trunk    .Lines     ]ocai   trains   which   form   a   veritable   network 

•        r  n/r   -i     of  communication.     The  gilt  and  sentiment  of 
tenes  of  Mail  fe 

the  first  fast  mail,  and  of  a  few  later  ones,  has 
disappeared  along  with  the  white  paint  and  cream  trimming, 
for  practical  economy  has  given  fast  mail  trains  an  incon- 
spicuous appearance  as  to  color  and  inscriptions.  Yet,  one 
who  realizes  what  is  taking  place  inside  those  plain  looking 
mail  cars,  the  high  state  of  efficiency  required  to  perform  un- 
der pressure  of  time  the  complicated  and  energy-eating  work, 
and  its  worth  to  business  interests  as  well  as  to  home  and 
social  ones,  cannot  repress  a  feeling  of  mingled  awe  and  ad- 
miration as  he  sees  a  monster  engine  move  out  with  a  fast 
mail  train,  and  head  into  the  night  across  the  continent.  And 
if  we  can  judge  its  impression  on  others  by  the  dramatic  de- 
scription by  William  (Billy)  Sunday  of  the  passing  of  the 
C.  B.  &  Q.  Fast  Mail,  sentiment  even  for  the  external  view  of 
the  fast  mail  still  exists. 

Civil  service  in  the  railway  mail  service  is  perhaps  the 
fairest  and  least  violated  to  be  found  in  any  public  or  private 
service.  It  had  its  early  struggle,  however,  as  did  all  federal 
civil  service.  Postal  clerks  received  their  appointment  at  first 
through  the  influence  of  politicians,  sometimes  backed  by  a 
strong  petition.  The  first  few  clerks  were  transferred  or  de- 
tailed from  post  offices,  but  they  also  were  originally  political 
appointees.  The  protracted  agitation  for  civil  service  bore  its 
first  fruits  in  an  act  of  Congress  on  March  4,  1871,  but  the 
commissioners,  appointed  to  formulate  rules,  were  not  ready 
to  apply  them  to  the  railway  mail  service  until  April,  1872. 
Several  superintendents  had  been  virtually  ap- 
rv  plying  such  rules  in  their  divisions,  and  had 

made  it  clear  that  they  wished  to  retain  in  office  all  employes 
during  good  behavior  and  efficiency.  The  new  law,  and  the 
rules  formulated  by  the  commissioners  on  its  authority,  em- 
bodied those  ideas  and  provided  rules  of  tenure  by  examination 


HISTORY  OP  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  31 

and  of  promotion  on  merit.  The  fact  that  promotion  now  de- 
pended on  merit,  tended  to  weed  out  those  men  of  political 
appointment  who  did  not  become  proficient.  There  was  lit- 
tle objection  to  the  law,  or  at  least  little  effort  to  evade  or 
change  it  as  long  as  the  same  political  party  remained  in 
power,  and  it  worked  for  the  betterment  of  the  railway  mail 
service. 

The  laws  under  which  the  railway  mail  service  was  first 
organized  had  not  been  very  specific,  and  had  left  that  work 
to  the  discretion  of  the  department  officers.  In  1882,  the  serv- 
ice was  reorganized  by  law,  salaries  Were  designated,  a  legal 
name  was  given  to  those  employed,  and  the  professional  au- 
tonomy of  railway  postal  clerks  was  established.  This  legal 
designation  and  recognition  is  as  follows:  "Be  it  enacted  by 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 

of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  that  per- 
Legal  Kecog-  sons  in  the  railway  mail  service,  known  as  rail- 
is      m°   c  way    Post    office    clerks,    route    agents,    local 

agents,  and  mail  route  messengers,  shall,  on 
and  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  be  designated  as  railway 
postal  clerks,  and  divided  into  five  classes,  etc."  The  law  was 
later  amended  as  to  classification  and  salary,  but  the  date 
stands  as  the  beginning  of  the  recognition  which  is  not  yet  so 
well  known  as  most  railway  postal  clerks  would  like,  and  which 
should  disabuse  the  minds  of  those  who  confuse  them  with 
railroad  men  or  politicians. 

The  railway  mail  service  was  destined  to  have  a  little  more 
opposition  before  its  place  was  secure  and  unimpaired.     The 
opposition  came   from  two  sources,   both  of  which  were  in- 
directly political.     After  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  at  the 
national   helm,  the  Republican  party  was  de- 

^?  !,1C^  .  feated,  and  Grover  Cleveland  became  presi- 
Civil    Service     ,        .     100P    „  .         ....  r     r 

dent  in  1885.  Democratic  politicians,  of  course, 

were  very  "pie  hungry"  after  such  long  abstinence,  and  most 
government  positions  were  appropriated  to  satisfy  them.  A 
number  of  railway  postal  clerks  escaped  the  deluge  by  peti- 
tions, signed  by  both  Democrats  and  Republicans,  because  of 


32  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

the  inability  of  an  inexperienced  man  to  do  anything  at  distrib- 
uting mail,  or  through  oversight  on  the  part  of  office-seekers. 
On  January  4,  1889,  President  Cleveland  issued  a  classified 
civil  service  order,  intended  to  become  effective  March  15th. 
President  Harrison,  however,  postponed  the  date  until  the 
first  of  May  following.  This  was  done  at  the  request  of  the 
civil  service  commission  in  order  to  allow  it  time  to  estab- 
lish examining  boards  throughout  the  country,  and  to  prepare 
registers  of  those  examined  from  which  to  make  appointments. 
Previous  to  the  time  the  civil  service  went  into  effect, 
May  1,  1889,  the  Republican  reaction,  with  attendant  excesses, 
occurred,  and  most  Democrats  who  had  enjoyed  government 
positions  but  four  years,  along  with  some  who  had  been  in 
the  service  under  previous  Republican  administrations,  wiere 
replaced  with  orthodox  Republican  clerks.  The  superintend- 
ents of  the  railway  mail  service  recognized  these  injustices, 
and  together  with  the  civil  service  commission,  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  retaining  those  clerks  who  should  be  retained. 
Since  that  time  there  has  been  very  little  abuse  of  civil  serv- 
ice rules,  and  a  clerk's  position  now  depends  only  on  his  ability 
and  good  behavior.  So  established  have  those  rules  become 
that  they  are  hardly  questioned. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  WORK  OF  A  RAILWAY  POSTAL  CLERK. 

Railway  postal  clerks  are  often  asked  as  to  the  nature  of 
their  work.  They  frequently  hear  such  polite  interrogation 
as,  "You  put  off  mail  at  the  towns  along-  the  road,  don't  you?" 
"You  sort  mail  on  the  train,  don't  you?"  and  "I  know  your 
postmaster,  Mr.  Doe,"  etc.  Even  the  correspondence  schools, 
whose  advertisements  set  forth  the  attractive  features  of  em- 
ployment in  the  railway  mail  service,  say  nothing  of  the  na- 
ture of  the  work  to  be  done.  They  can  merely  coach  a  man 
for  the  civil  service  examination,  for  after  appointment  a  clerk 
begins  his  preparation  for  his  particular  duties.  It  is  the  pur- 
pose of  this  chapter  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the  actual  work 
of  a  clerk  in  a  traveling  post  office. 

While  it  is  not  necessary  to  take  a  course  of  study  prepara- 
tory to  taking  the  civil  service  examination,  it  is  advantageous 
in  the  case  of  many  persons  to  do  so,  because  appointment  is 
made  according  to  the  scale  of  the  grades  made.  Upon  re- 
quest, the  United  States  Civil  Service  Commission  at  Wash- 
ington will  mail  a  manual,  containing  sample  questions  and 
the  necessary  information  as  to  physical  quali- 
How  Appoint-    fications,  together  with  a  schedule  of  dates  and 

a        »/r  j  places  where  examinations  are  to  be  held,  pro- 

Are    Made  *\  ,  ...  ,      ,    ,  , 

vidmg  such  examination  is  to  be  held  reason- 
ably soon.  A  request  is  then  made  for  application  blank  which 
is  sent,  and  a  physical  examination  blank  as  well.  These 
blanks  being  filled  out  satisfactorily  and  returned  to  the  com- 
mission, the  applicant  is  given  a  card,  admitting  him  to  ex- 
amination at  a  designated  place,  usually  near  the  town  where 
he  resides. 


34  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

The  examination  at  present  is  not  technical,  but  is  designed 
to  test  one's  fitness  to  begin  to  learn  to  be  a  postal  clerk.  The 
subjects  required  are  spelling,  geography  of  the  United  States, 
arithmetic,  copying  from  plain  copy,  penmanship,  and  letter 
writing.  These  are  subject  to  change  at  the  discretion  of  the 
commission.  The  grade  necessary  for  appointment  varies,  as 
can  be  seen.  The  examinations  and  the  registers  of  eligibles 
are  made  by  states,  and,  consequently,  appointment  varies 
with  the  number  of  candidates  and  the  number  of  vacancies 
in  a  state.  In  one  state,  an  applicant  with  a  grade  of  98% 
waited  six  months,  while  in  another,  one  with  a  grade  of  85% 
was  appointed  in  two  months.  Since  appointment  depends  on 
the  grade  made,  the  necessity  of  a  course  of  preparation  is  ap- 
parent, unless  one  is  very  familiar  with  the  subjects  of  ex- 
amination. 

When  a  vacancy  occurs,  the  Civil  Service  Commission  se- 
lects one  name  from  the  three  highest  on  the  register  o(  the 
state  where  the  vacancy  exists,  and  certifies  it  for  appoint- 
ment, as  a  substitute  railway  postal  clerk.  The  name  is  sent 
to  the  superintendent  of  the  division  where  the  vacancy  oc- 
curred, and  later  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  district,  who  notifies 
the  appointee  that  he  has  been  appointed  and  asks  him  to 
report  for  instructions. 

When  the  substitute  reports  for  instruction,  he  experiences 
a  revelation.  He  is  not  sent  on  the  road  at  once,  as  he  ex- 
pects, but  is  given  an  oath  of  office  to  have  executed,  a  bond 
to  have  signed,  and  an  assignment  of  study.  A  map,  a  sched- 
ule of  mail  trains,  a  scheme  book  of  a  state,  and  a  copy  of  pos- 
tal laws  and  regulations  are  furnished  the  substitute,  and  he 
is  instructed  how  to  study  the  half  state,  in  which  are  the  of- 
ficers he  is  assigned  to  learn.  He  is  told  to 
Learning  return  in  a  while  to  pass  a  case  examination 

M'l  T1     1*-  on  tne  na^  state>  and   a  written  examination 

on  the  postal  laws  and  regulations.  A  case 
resembling  a  miniature  letter  case  will  be  used  in  the  examina- 
tion, and  it  can  be  secured  from  a  supply  house,  or  can  be 
made  at  home.     Of  course,  one  couldn't  remember  all  those 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


ADAMS 


NORTH  DAKOTA. 


SIGNS. 


Offices  prefixed  *  are  junctions. 
Offices  prefixed  0  have  been  discontinued. 

Offices  prefixed  A  have  been  discontinued  and  superseded  by 
rural  delivery. 
Offices  suffixed  (c.  h.)  are  county  seats. 


ADAMS    COUNTY- 


Bucyrus ' 

Cedar  a 

Chandler  b 

0Cookc 

0Gilstrapd 

Haynes  j 

AHendleyb 

Hettinger  (c.  h.). 

Leigh  a 

ALloyd  f 

0Orange  e 

Petrel1 

Pierson  h 

Reeder... 

ASchneblya 

Springbutte  c 

Stowers  c 

0Weightman  c 

Wolf  Butte  h.___ 


Aber.  &  Miles  City. 

McLaughlin,  S.  Dak.,  to  Terry,  Mont, 
a  Hettinger, 
b  Haynes. 
c  Lemmon,  S.  Dak. 
d  White  Butte,  S.  Dak. 
f  Petrel. 

g  Thunder  Hawk.  S.  Dak. 
h  Bucyrus. 
i  17, 18. 
j  16,  17, 18. 


(2) 

Specimen  Page  of  a  Scheme  Book  of  North  Dakota. 

Many  offices  are  not  on  the  railroad.  Alphabetical  references  indi- 
cate at  what  railroad  town  mail  for  the  inland  town  is  dispatched; 
numerical  references  indicate  which  trains  supply  the  town  with  mail. 
If  no  reference  follows  the  name  of  a  town  all  trains  dispatch  mail 
there. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  35 

instructions,  but  any  postal  clerk  will  help  a  substitute  fix  his 
case  ready  for  study,  and  the  latter  takes  his  scheme  and  postal 
laws  and  regulations  home  and  either  resigns  at  once  or  be- 
gins to  study. 

The  organization  and  supervision  of  the  service  is  of  im- 
mediate interest  to  any  one  who  has  anything  to  do  with  it. 
The  postal  clerk  may  learn  all  that  is  necessary  from  his  copy 
of  the  postal  laws  and  regulations,  which  is  called  a  black 
book  from  the  color  of  its  cover.  The  United  States  is  divided 
into  fifteen  divisions  and  subdivided  into  more  than  one  hun- 
dred districts.  The  superior  officer  of  a  division  is  a  division 
superintendent,  and  of  a  district  is  a  chief  clerk,  who  is  respon- 
sible to  the  superintendent  of  the  division  in  which  his  dis- 
trict is  located.  The  division  superintendent  is  responsible 
to  the  general  superintendent  at  Washington,  whose  work  is 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Second  Assistant  Postmaster-Gen- 
eral. These  positions  are  all  filled  by  promotion  under  civil 
service  rules.  All  communications,  to  and  from  a  clerk,  pass 
through  the  office  of  the  chief  clerk.  The  recommendations 
of  one  of  these  officers  to  his  superior  is  usually  followed  out 
in  all  detail  matters  and  in  most  of  the  important  ones. 

The  scheme  of  a  state  and  the  case  and  card  system  of 
study  and  examination  were  invented  and  put  into  use  by  Cap- 
tain James  White,  who,  from  1866  to  1907,  served  in  all  the 
stages  of  promotion  from  clerk  on  the  road,  or  route  agent, 
as  it  was  called  when  he  was  appointed,  to  general  superin- 
tendent. The  scheme  contains  a  list  of  all  the  post  offices  in 
a  state,  and  the  route  or  routes  on  which  they  are  located.  An 
office  at  the  junction  of  two  or  more  routes,  or  railway  post 
offices,  is  prefixed  by  a  star.  An  office  located  on  two  roads, 
not  junctions,  is  called  a  double  supply.  An  Iowa  scheme 
shows  Scranton  on  the  Chicago  &  Omaha  railway  post  of- 
fice. Boone  is  a  junction,  being  on  the  Chicago  &  Omaha, 
the  Boone  &  Des  Moines,  and  the  Fort  Dodge  &  Des  Moines. 
Woodbine  is  a  double  supply,  being  on  the  Chicago  &  Omaha, 
and  Fort  Dodge  &  Omaha,  two  parallel  routes.    The  clerk  pre- 


36  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

pares  cards  to  learn  these  facts.  On  one  side  of  a  card  is 
printed  the  office  of  Scranton,  and  on  the  other 
The  Scheme  side>  Chicago  &  Omaha.  On  the  back  of  the 
Boone  card  he  places  a  star,  meaning  that  it 
is  a  junction,  together  with  the  names  of  the  three  routes  men- 
tioned above.  On  the  back  of  the  card  for  Woodbine  he  writes 
both  Chicago  &  Omaha  and  Fort  Dodge  &  Omaha.  The  boxes 
of  the  practice  case  are  labeled  to  the  names  of  these  railway 
post  offices,  and  one  large  box  is  labeled  junctions.  The  clerk 
learns  to  throw  Scranton  into  the  box,  labeled  Chicago  & 
Omaha,  without  looking  at  its  back.  He  may  throw  Wood- 
bine in  either  the  box  labeled  Chicago  &  Omaha,  or  the  one 
labeled  Fort  Dodge  &  Omaha,  but  must  know  both.  He  throws 
Boone  into  the  junction  box,  but  must  know  the  names  of  the 
three  routes  on  its  back,  for  when  he  is  examined  in  the  chief 
clerk's  office,  the  examiner  will  take  out  all  the  junctions  and 
ask  the  names  of  all  the  routes  on  each.  A  substitute  first 
learns  in  what  county  each  office  is  located.  He  has  the  name 
of  the  county  on  the  back  of  each  card,  and  has  a  box  for  each 
county  in  his  practice  case. 

A  substitute  postal  clerk  corresponds  in  a  way  to  an  extra 
man  in  railroad  service.  One  substitute  may  be  kept  for  each 
eight  regular  clerks  in  a  state,  but  the  number  varies  some- 
what. Regular  clerks,  who  work  six  or  more  days  a  week, 
fifty-two  weeks  a  year,  are  given  fifteen  days  plus  Sundays 
vacation  annually  and  their  salaries  paid.  These  absences,  to- 
gether with  those  caused  by  sickness,  accident,  and  for  per- 
sonal reasons,  give  employment  to  these  substitutes,  who  are 

paid  at  the  rate  of  $900.00  a  year  for  the  time 
Substitute  actually    employed.      Substitutes    are    usually 

given  their  first  trips  in  runs  with  other  clerks, 
but  sometimes  are  sent  out  on  one-man  runs.  The  experiences 
of  substitutes  would  make  a  volume,  and  a  few  are  given  in 
this  volume.  When  a  substitute  goes  on  a  trip  with  other 
clerks  in  a  large  railway  post  office,  he  can  do  little  except 
carry  sacks  and  "set-up"  papers ;  that  is,  he  sets  the  miscel- 
laneous papers  so  that  the  addresses  are  up.    After  some  ex- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  37 

perience  running  with  other  clerks,  he  may  be  sent  out  on  a 
run  by  himself,  after  having-  gone  over  the  route  with  the  man, 
whose  place  he  is  to  take. 

The  mere  knowledge  of  location  of  offices  is  not  sufficient 
to  enable  a  clerk  to  work  mail.  There  are  often  several  trains 
carrying  post  office  cars  which  run  through  a  town,  and  it  is 
necessary  to  know  how  to  send  a  piece  of  mail,  so  as  to  con- 
nect, in  the  shortest  time,  with  the  train  that  connects  the 
train  which  supplies  the  town.  When  a  clerk  is  assigned  to 
work,  he  is  given  a  schedule,  which  is  a  time-table  of  mail 
trains,  and  a  list  of  the  dispatches  of  mails  that  each  makes. 
A  train  connecting  the  Chicago  &  Council  Bluffs  train  number 
fifteen  at  Albia,  Iowa,  would  not  give  mail  to  that  train  for 
many  little  Iowa  towns  through  which  train  number  fifteen 
passes,  because,  being  a  night  train,  it  does  not  supply  them 
with  mail.  Mail  for  them  is  sent  east  on  train  number  eight, 
which  gives  it  back  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  to  train  number 
seven,  which,  being  a  day  train,  supplies  all  the  little  towns. 
The  question  of  whether  a  train  supplies  a  town  with  mail 
is  settled  by  the  division  superintendent  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  chief  clerk,  the  wishes  of  the  people  of  the  towns 
being  usually  complied  with.  A  further  knowledge,  not  often 
required  of  substitutes,  is  required  of  regular  clerks  in  making 
up  mail  for  a  railway  post  office.  This  is  learned  from  a  sep- 
aration list  found  in  the  back  of  the  scheme.  If  a  clerk  had 
to  work  all  the  mail  on  his  line  before  he  came  to  the  mail 
for  the  first  towns  out,  he  would  either  not  get  them  out,  or 
would  have  nothing  to  do  the  rest  of  the  trip.  For  this  rea- 
son mails  are  made  up  direct  for  the  first  town  or  two;  i.  e., 
already  to  be  put  off.  The  mail  for  the  offices  along  the  first 
part  of  the  line  beyond  these  towns  is  put  in  a  sack  or  pack- 
age labeled  No.  1 ;  that  for  towns  farther  along  is  labeled  No. 
2,  and  that  for  the  rest  of  the  line  in  the  state  No.  3.  Mail 
made  up  by  lines  entering  Omaha  for  the  Chicago,  West  Lib- 
erty &  Omaha  line  must  have  that  for  Council  Bluffs  made 
up  separate,  that  for  all  the  offices  to  Atlantic  in  a  sack,  or 
if  letters  in  packages,  labeled  Chicago,  West  Liberty  &  Omaha 


38  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

(train)  No.  1.  Offices  from  Atlantic  to  Des  Moines  are  called 
No.  2,  and  from  Des  Moines  east,  No.  3. 

Substitute  clerks  usually  take  the  first  regular  appoint- 
ment offered,  even  if  they  particularly  desire  a  certain  run, 
and  then  try  to  secure  their  choice  by  applying  for  a  transfer. 
In  case  of  vacancy,  a  regular  clerk,  who  had  applied,  would 
be  transferred,  and  the  substitute  would  be  appointed  to  his 
place.  Runs  vary  as  to  time,  amount  of  work  done,  amount 
of  salary,  and  other  conditions.  All  main  lines  are  arranged 
so  that  clerks  have  regular  runs  to  make,  and  regular  periods 
off  to  equalize  the  time  in  excess  of  eight  hours  that  was  re- 
quired for  the  long  trips.  This  accounts  for  the  week-on  and 
week-off  of  clerks.  Some  runs  require  two  weeks  on  and  one 
off  while,  many  short-line  runs  require  six  days  a  week.  The 
length  of  a  line,  the  amount  of  work  required  in  the  yards 
before  the  departure  of  the  train,  and  the  importance  of  the 
line  determine  the  hours  of  work  on  a  route. 

The  fact  that  a  clerk  has  a  week  off,  does  ont  mean  that 
he  has  nothing  to  do.  There  are  two  things  connected  with 
his  work  that  he  must  do  regularly  at  home,  and  there  are 
other  things  that  he  must  prepare  for.  The  territory  or  states 
assigned  for  a  clerk  to  learn,  depends  on  the  length  and  posi- 
tion of  his  run,  and  varies  from  one  to  six,  main-line  runs, 
requiring  five  or  six.  The  five  or  six  schemes  must  be  cor- 
rected regularly  from  a  weekly  bulletin,  which  all  clerks  re- 
ceive from  the  superintendent.  This  shows  changes  in  time- 
tables, and  dispatch  of  trains,  as  well  as  all  new  orders  or  rules 
affecting  the  work.  Each  clerk  must  provide  himself  with 
slips  for  labels.  These  must  be  arranged,  and,  if  they  are  for 
Study  And  sacks  or  pouches,  they  must  be  folded  to  fit 
Clerical  the  label  holders,  and  must  contain  the  clerk's 

Work  name,  train  number,  and  date  of  run.    The  De- 

partment furnishes  printed  labels,  but  the  clerks  must  arrange 
them  for  the  run,  and  stamp  up  and  fold  them.  Some  clerks, 
on  runs  which  require  several  hundred  slips  a  week,  find  it 
profitable  to  buy  their  slips  from  supply  houses,  which  make 
a  business  of  printing  and  preparing  slips.    It  is  on  these  fac- 


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OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Postal  Clerk  With  Practice  Case — Getting  Ready  for  a  Case 

Examination. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  39 

ing  slips  or  labels  that  errors  in  the  dispatch  of  mails  are  noted 
by  the  clerk  receiving  any  incorrectly  dispatched.  The  slips 
so  checked  are  sent  to  the  chief  clerk  and  help  determine  the 
record  and  standing  of  the  clerk  who  is  in  error. 

During  his  week  off,  a  clerk  is  subject  to  call  for  extra 
duty  in  case  of  an  emergency.  Yet,  while  the  time  is  not  all 
his  own,  the  week-off  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  features  of 
the  work.  Furthermore,  the  week-off  is  a  physical  neces- 
sity. The  nature  of  the  work  performed  during  the  week 
on  the  road  is  very  tiresome  during  any  trip,  and  is  energy- 
consuming  on  many  trips.  This  fact  is  due  partly  to  the  mo- 
tion of  the  train,  and  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  work  requires 
the  use  of  both  mental  and  muscular  energy.  A  congressman, 
who  once  had  occasion  to  investigate  for  his  own  information, 
the  work  of  a  railway  mail  clerk,  exclaimed  to  the  clerk  who 
had  been  loading,  stalling,  sorting,  and  exchanging  mail,  often 
in  quantities  of  tons  and  always  at  a  high  rate  of  speed:  "You 
earn  your  salary  by  your  muscle  work  alone."  On  having  the 
technical  side  of  the  work  explained  a  little,  he  added:  "You 
earn  your  salary  by  your  technical  knowledge  alone."  The 
week-off  then  is  well  earned,  and  is  a  necessity  especially  for 
clerks  who  have  many  states  to  study. 

Clerks,  whose  territory  includes  two  or  three  states,  are  ex- 
amined once  a  year;  if  five  or  six  states,  they  are  examined  on 
two  a  year.  In  this  way  all  of  a  clerk's  territory  is  covered  by 
examination  in  three  years  at  least.  When  a  regular  clerk  is 
examined  by  his  chief  clerk,  or,  as  is  usually  the  case,  by  an 
assistant  detailed  for  that  special  work,  he  submits  for  in- 
spection his  keys,  commission  (which  is  a  pho- 

„ase  .       .  toeraph-pass,   good   only   on   his   run),   bads:e, 

Examinations        ° .    *    *     .    f  J     .     ,   .  J'         °  ' 

which   all   clerks   are   required   to   wear   when 

on  duty,  and  his  schemes.     He  uses  his  own  case,  but  must 

use  the  examiner's  cards,  which  are  blank  on  the  back.    The 

examiner    takes    down    the   time    consumed    by    the    clerk    in 

"throwing"   the   cards   in  the  case,   and    then    examines    the 

cards,   a   box   at    a   time,   to   discover   errors,    each    of   which 

he  shows  to  the  clerk,  if  any  are  found.     He  then  takes  the 


40  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

cards  from  the  junction  box  and  asks  the  names  of  the  lines  at 
each  point,  and  asks  how  he  would  dispatch  mail  for  that  junc- 
tion if  he  were  on  a  certain  trip.  This  examination  is  a  part  of 
the  system  employed  to  determine  the  efficiency  record  on 
which  a  clerk's  promotion  is  based.  By  the  plus  and  minus 
system,  which  will  be  discussed  later,  a  clerk  receives  five  plus 
if  he  throws  .9850+  of  the  cards  correctly.  Twenty  to  thirty 
plus  may  be  made  in  answering  correctly  the  one  hundred 
questions  asked  on  postal  laws  and  regulations,  which  is  a  part 
of  the  regular  examination.  In  the  tenth  division,  which  in- 
cludes Wisconsin,  North  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  Minnesota, 
North  Dakota,  and  South  Dakota,  during  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember, 1915,  298  regular  clerks  were  examined  with  an  aver- 
age correct  percentage  of  99.39.  This  is  perhaps  a  fair  exam- 
ple, for  this  division  contains  both  thickly  and  thinly  settled 
territory  as  well 'as  city  and  standpoint  examinations. 

For  the  year  ending  June  30,  1914,  about  twenty  thousand 
clerks  were  employed  in  the  railway  mail  service.  Over  four 
thousand  mail  cars  were  used,  one-fourth  of  which  were  full 
cars,  or  cars  used  exclusively  for  mail,  and  the  rest  were  apart- 
ment cars,  or  cars  an  apartment  of  which  is  used  for  mail. 
The  smallest  apartment  cars  are  used  on  one-man  runs;  the 
larger  ones  are  assigned  where  two  or  three  men  are  neces- 
sary, while  the  full  cars  are  used  on  the  main  lines,  where 
from  four  to  eight,  and  even  more  men  to  a  car  are  used.  The 
length  and  importance  of  a  line  determine  the  size  of  the 
cars,  and  the  number  of  men  allowed  to  it.  It  is  also  often 
the  case  that  apartments  are  used  on  day  trains,  these  being 
large  enough  to  accommodate  the  mail  received  at  local  sta- 
tions, while  on  the  night  trains  of  the  same  route  full  cars 
are  necessary  for  the  distribution  of  the  through  night  mails, 
which  have  been  received  from  tributary  day  trains,  and  from 
the  day  mail  from  post  offices. 

Clerks  on  one-man  runs  have  for  the  most  part  very  de- 
sirable positions,  the  most  desirable  being  those,  whose  time 
on  duty  allows  a  compensatory  week  off,  and  those  whose  runs 
are  confined  to  one  state,  a  condition  which  makes  it  neces- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  41 

sary  for  them  to  be  examined  on  but  one  state.  Occasionally, 
the  hours  of  work  are  undesirable,  but  usually  they  are  such 
that  the  clerk  has  his  nights  and  most  of  his  evenings  at  home. 
Before  going  out  on  his  run,  a  clerk  calls  at  the  post  office,  to 
receipt  in  person  for  the  registered  mail,  which  either  has  been 
left  there  by  other  lines,  or  has  originated  there.  In  large 
cities  and  important  junction  points,  a  man  called  a  transfer 
clerk  is  detailed  and  placed  at  the  stations,  for  the  purpose  of 
handling  this  registered  mail,  and  for  looking  after  all  mail 
about  the  station.  Before  going  to  his  car,  the  clerk  signs 
a  book  of  arrivals  and  departure,  and  looks 
Desirability        Qver  ^  or(ier  book,  the  latter  being  a  book  in 

which  are  posted  all  orders  and  changes  affect- 
ing the  run.  Upon  being  appointed  to  a  run,  a  clerk  is  given 
a  badge,  mail  key,  and  safety  chain,  and  a  commission  which 
is  a  photographic  pass,  good  only  on  the  trains  of  his  run.  In 
the  car  the  clerk  dons  overalls,  or  other  clothes  suitable  for 
rough  work,  pins  on  his  badge,  attaches  his  keys  with  the 
safety  chain,  and  lays  out  pencils,  labels,  schemes,  registry 
book,  and  other  tools  of  the  trade.  If  no  mail  is  at  hand,  he 
enters  a  description  of  the  registered  mail  in  his  record  book, 
and  makes  out  return  receipt  cards,  to  be  dispatched  with  reg- 
isters. First-class  mail  and  daily  papers  receive  the  first  at- 
tention. The  former  is  received  in  regularly  scheduled  locked 
pouches,  and  a  record  is  kept  of  each  pouch  received  and  dis- 
patchd.  The  rest  of  the  mail,  consisting  of  second,  third,  and 
fourth  classes,  is  handled  in  tie  sacks,  of  which  no  record  is 
kept. 

If  his  mail  has  been  well  made  up,  and  most  mail  is,  the 
clerk  should  have  an  interesting  trip.  The  first  town's  mail 
is,  or  should  have  been,  held  "out,"  i.  e.,  made  up  direct,  ready 
to  be  put  off,  and  the  rest  should  be  in  separations  of  No.  1 
and  No.  2,  if  there  is  very  much  from  any  one  source.  So, 
by  the  time  the  engineer  whistles  for  the  first  town,  its  mail 
is  ready  to  be  dispatched,  and  most,  if  not  all,  the  No.  1  is 
worked,  while  on  some  of  the  easiest  lines  all  is  worked  up. 
By  the  time  the  second  or  third  station  is  reached,  all  the  mail 


42  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

started  out  with  is  worked,  and  the  local  mail  received  is  not 
usually  of  sufficient  quantity  to  rush  one,  so  that  the  clerk 
has  a  little  time  between  stations  to  be  aware  that  he  is  on  a 
train.  Of  course,  there  is  a  difference  in  days.  Wednesdays, 
Thursdays,  and  Fridays,  the  days  when  the  county  papers  are 
published  and  exchanges  are  circulating,  or  on  Monday  eve- 
nings when,  because  there  has  been  no  Sunday  train,  the  east- 
bound  letters  are  heavy;  on  these  days  there  is  nothing  much 
to  do  but  work.  When  a  clerk  on  a  run  of  this  kind  becomes 
well  acquainted  with  his  mail,  i.  e.,  knows  what  to  expect, 
knows  his  connections  well,  and  is  familiar  with  his  territory, 
he  has  little  difficulty  in  doing  his  work  well  and  easily. 

Conditions  vary  on  these  runs.  Sometimes  fast  work  is 
required  at  the  end  of  the  run,  owing  to  having  received  heavy 
mail  at  the  last  station,  and  to  the  necessity  of  being  all  worked 
up  with  letter  packages  tied  out,  and  sacks  out  of  the  rack. 
There  is  always  enough  of  the  strenuous  in  places  to  prevent 
monotony,  and  there  are  few,  if  any,  sinecures  in  the  whole 
service.  Before  leaving  his  car  in  the  evening,  the  clerk  labels 
up  for  the  next  trip ;  that  is,  he  puts  facing  slips  in  the  letter 
boxes  and  labels  in  the  sacks.  And  the  day's  work  is  not 
entirely  done  until  he  has  signed  the  book  of  arrival,  delivered 
the  registers  to  the  post  office  or  transfer  clerk,  and  has  made 
out  a  trip  report.  This  report  contains  the  facts  about  the 
trip:  viz.,  time  of  arrival  and  departure  at  junctions,  amount 
of  mail  worked,  any  failures  to  receive  regular  mail,  and  other 
information  called  for  on  the  blank  reports  with  which  he  is 
furnished.  The  motion  of  the  train  makes  the  work  somewhat 
tiresome,  but  the  worker  knows  that  he  has  a  rest  coming  if 
his  hours  are  long,  and  on  runs  where  they  are  short,  and  he 
has  to  run  six  days  a  week,  he  looks  forward  to  a  vacation  of 
fifteen  days  plus  Sundays  annually  with  pay.  So  a  clerk  in 
one  of  these  small  traveling  post  offices  has  a  good  position, 
better  than  the  average,  and  better  perhaps  than  he  realizes. 

If  a  clerk  receives  an  appointment  on  a  full  railway  post 
office  car,  he  is  confronted  with  a  different  situation.  His 
chances  of  working  up  to  a  better  salary,  together  with  the 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


St.  Paul  &  Des  Moines  Railway  Post  Office,  Train  3  (Minne- 
apolis &  St.  Louis  Railroad) — Crew  Doing  Advanced 
Distribution   in  the   Railroad  Yards. 


HISTORY  OP  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  43 

certainty  of  having  a  week-off  period,  is  the  chief  inducement. 
Of  course,  when  he  was  a  substitute,  he  learned  one  or  more 
states,  but  the  distribution  of  mail  is  more  complex  than  that 
on  small  runs.  He  is  apt  to  be  one  of  a  force  of  several  men 
in  a  crew.  If  his  run  is  on  a  mail  line  local,  the  work  will  be 
similar  to  that  on  a  one-man  run,  on  a  larger  scale.  On  a 
large  line,  especially  on  a  night  line,  the  work  is  more  special- 
ized. A  new  clerk  is  usually  assigned  to  work  out  local  mail, 
and  always  has  certain  states  to  work.  He  may  have  to  work 
but  one  or  two  states  each  way,  or  he  may  work  a  state  going 
one  way  and  work  mail  up  for  city  carriers  on  the  return  trip. 
On  the  largest  lines  one  man  may  do  nothing  but  handle  reg- 
istered matter,  or  may  tend  station,  either  of  which  would  keep 
him  fully  occupied.  The  matter  of  assignments  is  arranged 
with  the  least  difficult  first,  graduating  to  the  head  clerk,  or 
clerk-in-charge.  This  latter  position  is  reached  only  after  serv- 
ing in  all  the  other  assignments,  and  is  a  very  important  office. 
The  work  of  this  position,  in  actually  handling  mail,  is  con- 
fined to  working  letters,  and  in  some  cases  handling  registered 
mail.  The  clerk-in-charge  is  authority  in  the  crew  on  all  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  its  work  not  provided  for  by  special  orders 
from  the  chief  clerk.  The  making  out  of  trip  and  special  re- 
ports requires  considerable  of  his  time,  and  altogether  he  earns 
well  the  salary  he  receives  above  that  of  other  members  of  the 
crew.  To  say  the  least,  life  on  a  full  railway  post  office  is 
very  strenuous. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


SPECIAL  WORK. 

Every  profession  or  calling  has  or  soon  acquires  certain 
traditions,  certain  characteristics  by  which  its  men  are  dis- 
tinguished to  some  degree  from  those  about  them.  The  most 
striking  of  these  qualities,  peculiar  to  the  railway  mail  service, 
are  a  high  standard  of  ability,  a  high-class  citizenship,  and  a 
discipline,  almost  military  in  efficiency,  yet  free  from  the  un- 
desirable   features    of    militarism.     Discipline 

AV/r  was  one  °^  ^e  ^rst  <luanties  prominent  among 

railway  mail  clerks,  because  the  ranks  were 
made  up  largely  of  men  who  had  seen  service  in  the  Civil  War. 
A  high  standard  of  ability  resulted  partly  from  this  personnel 
and  partly  from  necessity;  a  swiftly  moving  train  is  no  place 
for  a  sluggard  or  a  weakling.  The  high  standard  of  citizen- 
ship was  increased,  and  is  maintained  by  the  civil  service  ex- 
amination for  admission. 

The  w'hole  organization  has  many  military  features,  the 
most  prominent  of  which  are  written  orders,  the  Black  Book, 
and  the  division  system  of  officials;  and  this  efficient  organiza- 
tion has  demonstrated  its  ability  to  cope  with  unusual  con- 
ditions on  several  occasions.  In  July,  1892,  a  number  of  clerks 
from  different  points  of  the  East  were  surprised  by  an  order, 
courteously  called  an  invitation,  to  come  to  Omaha,  Nebraska, 
on  July  29th  and  take  a  trip  to  San  Francisco.  It  was  explained 
to  them  that  the  Post  Office  Department  wished  to  recognize 
their  very  excellent  service  by  sending  them  on  this  trip,  and 
that  the  clerks  on  the  coast  would  be  benefited  by  their  visit. 
These  men,  thirty-six  clerks  and  three  division  superintend- 
ents, enjoyed  the  trip  to  the  coast,  and  doubtless  the  coast 
clerks  were  much  edified  by  the  visit.     However,  when  time 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  45 

came,  August  4th,  for  the  return  trip,  the  men  were  taken  to 
the  cars,  where,  from  chests  brought  from  the  armory,  they 
were  issued  Springfield  rifles  with  2,000  rounds  of  cartridges, 
forty-five-calibre  Colts  revolvers,  and  1,000  rounds  of  cart- 
ridges, and  here  they  learned  the  cause  of  their  trip. 

At  this  time  the  reserve  of  gold  in  the  United  States  sub- 
treasury  at  New  York,  owing  to  shipments  abroad  and  to 
other  causes,  had  decreased  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  had  ordered  gold  coin,  to  the  amount  of 
$2,000,000,  transferred  from  the  sub-treasury  at  San  Francisco 
at  once.  It  was  decided  to  make  the  transfer  by  registered 
mail,  and  the  Railway  Mail  Service,  under  the  superintendency 
of  Capt.  Jas.  White,  undertook  to  transport  the  gold  across 
the  continent.  To  save  hauling  to  the  post  office,  the  gold 
was  registered  at  the  sub-treasury,  receipted  for  by  the  of- 
ficials of  the  Railway  Mail  Service  and  taken  to  the  cars  on 
strong  trucks  guarded  by  the  thirty-six  armed  clerks.  Here 
the  500  boxes  of  precious  metal  were  loaded  on  the  cars  and 
the  "Silk  train"  started  across  the  continent.  The  gold  train 
consisted  of  an  observation  car  next  to  the  engine,  a  C.  B.  & 
Q.,  and  a  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  postal  car,  an  express  and  a  baggage 
car  of  the  Union  Pacific,  and  a  dinky  car  for  the  crew.  The 
secrecy  and  deception  of  the  arrangements  were  perfect,  and 
it  was  well  that  they  were,  for  at  that  time  there  were  in  the 
West  train  robbers  a  plenty,  who  would  have  dared  an  attempt 

on  a  gold  train.  The  story  of  the  trip,  as  told 
T  e.  by  Supt.  White  in  an  article  in  a  mail  service 

publication,  and  in  his  "Reminiscences"  is  a 
long  and  interesting  one ;  suffice  it  to  say,  the  coin  was  trans- 
ported safely;  not,  however,  without  a  few  thrills  and  much 
concern  on  the  part  of  the  superintendents,  and  perhaps  the 
clerks  who  had  started  out  on  a  vacation  trip.  A  flagman  on 
the  slope  of  the  Sierras  was  frightened  half  out  of  his  wits, 
by  finding  the  train  he  had  stopped  for  a  repair  gang,  to  be 
fairly  bristling  with  guns.  The  officials  were  made  busy  be- 
fore the  train  started  by  a  letter  being  turned  in  by  a. clerk, 
who  knew  it  was  addressed  to  a  famous  outlaw.    At  Rawlins, 


46  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Wyoming,  the  relief  engineer  for  the  train  feared  to  take  his 
run  out,  as  he  had  been  held  up  twice  that  day.  At  Sherman, 
near  the  Divide,  a  number  of  knights  of  the  road,  vulgarly 
'called  hoboes,  tried  to  take  passage  on  the  platforms  of  the 
train.  When  the  doors  opened  and  the  points  of  guns  stuck 
out  like  the  quills  of  a  porcupine,  the  hoboes  scattered  pell 
mell.  In  spite  of  several  delays  for  broken  draws,  etc.,  the 
gold  was  delivered  to  the  sub-treasury  at  New  York,  and  the 
equilibrium  of  Uncle  Sam's  money  bags  was  restored. 

The  Chicago  fire  of  1871  was  another  occasion  on  which 
the  railway  mail  service  performed  unusual  and  useful  service. 
The  post  office  was  destroyed  by  the  fire,  and  mail  service  ap- 
peared to  be  paralyzed  for  that  city.  The  superintendent,  Mr. 
Bangs,  had  large  postal  cars  stationed  at  various  points  in 
the  city,  called  in  the  clerks  who  were  on  their  weeks  off,  and 
took  care  of  all  outgoing  mail.  He  also  provided  for  the  de- 
tour of  mails  for  connections  usually  made  through  Chicago. 
In  this  way  the  people  had  as  prompt  dispatch  of  mail  from 
the  city  as  they  had  had  before. 

Similar  service  was  performed  on  postal  cars  during  the 
Spanish-American  War.  When  armies  were  assembled  in  the 
South,  preparatory  to  the  occupation  of  Cuba,  the  flood  of 
mail  which  followed  the  soldiers,  swamped  the  post  offices  near 
the  camps.  To  meet  this  emergency,  large  postal  cars  were 
stationed  where  they  were  needed,  and  were  manned  by  crews 
picked  for  a  wide  knowledge  of  territory.  The  most  important 
work  was  done  on  side  tracks  near  Camp  Chickamauga, 
Georgia,  and  near  Tampa,  Florida.  Mail  from 
The  Mail  the  armies,  of  course,  was  worked  the  same 

Th  °F1S  way  as  1S  any  otner  unworked  mail.    Mail  for 

the  soldiers  was  worked  up  to  companies, 
regiments,  batteries  and  ships,  which  was  quite  simple  work, 
except  when  these  units  were  divided  in  loading  transports 
or  in  special  detail.  After  the  departure  of  the  transports,  all 
mail  for  the  soldiers,  whose  destination  was  unknown  except 
to  the  officials  of  the  army,  was  dispatched  to  Key  West,  Flor- 
ida, whence  it  was  later  sent  to  Santiago. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  47 

When  expeditions  of  our  armies  were  landed  in  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippine  Islands,  they  were  accompanied 
or  closely  followed  by  postal  agents,  who  saw  that  the  mail 
service  followed  the  flag.  Officers  and  men  from  the  railway 
mail  service  affected  temporary  organizations  in  those  islands, 
and  mail  service  followed  promptly.  Often  the  equipment  was 
crude,  but  it  answered  the  purpose.  At  Ponce,  army  car- 
penters made  tables,  and  at  Manilla,  Mr.  Vaille  succeeded  in 
taking  over  the  post  office  and  native  clerks  without  much 
trouble.  At  first  the  Spanish  clerks  struck,  but  when  the  Span- 
ish merchants  saw  that  mail  was  being  delivered  without  a 
hitch  to  English,  French  and  German  merchants,  and  that  no 
one  was  being  hurt  but  Spaniards,  they  induced  the  native 
clerks,  such  as  were  wanted  of  them,  to  resume  work.  Of 
course,  as  soon  as  conditions  were  settled  in  the  new  terri- 
tory, directors  of  posts  were  appointed  and  the  Post  Office 
Department  made  provision  for  permanent  postal  organiza- 
tion, and  the  work  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service  division  was 
confined  to  its  normal  state,  the  transportation  of  mail. 

One  of  the  causes  for  the  efficiency  of  postal  clerks  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  their  officers  were  and  are  efficient ;  that 
they  have  attained  their  offices  by  promotion,  and  are  familiar 
with  the  details  of  the  work  performed.  Early  in  the  history 
of  the  service,  especially,  and  occasionally  now,  a  clerk  has 
to  be  impressed  with  the  fact  that  his  work  is  of  a  strenuous 
nature,  and  yet  is  not  impossible  of  attainment.  On  the  other 
hand,  all  human  beings  make  mistakes,  and,  if  a  service  con- 
dition be  unfair  or  impossible,  the  officers  have  not  so  far  for- 
gotten "the  pit  from  which  they  were  digged"  as  to  refuse  to 
make  a  change  in  orders.  On  one  occasion  a  clerk  on  the 
Omaha  &  Ogden,  who  had  entered  the  service  before  it  was 
well  under  the  rules  of  civil  service,  complained  that  his  work 
was  too  hard.  He  made  this  complaint  to  his  chief  clerk,  who 
happened  to  be  at  the  station  at  Omaha  when  his  train  was 
about  ready  to  start.  He  said  it  was  impossible  for  any  man 
to  distribute  the  mail  on  that  trip  before  reaching  Ogden.  The 
chief  clerk  replied  that  he  could  distribute  it  before  they  should 


48  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

cross  the  state  of  Nebraska,  if  the  clerk  would  dump  the  sacks 
on  the  table  and  keep  the  full  sacks  tied  out  of  the  rack.  Send- 
ing- a  note  to  his  wife,  the  chief  started  to  throw  mail,  and  at 
daylight  at  North  Platte,  Nebraska,  finished  the  distribution. 
At  various  times,  medals  and  other  prizes  have  been  of- 
fered by  division  officers,  or  by  the  Postmaster-General,  for 
the  best  case  examination,  best  check  record,  and  other  works 
of  merit.  Postmaster-General  Wanamaker  offered  twelve  gold 
medals,  one  for  each  division,  to  the  clerk  in 
Medals  eacj1  wno  macie  the  best  showing  in  these  con- 

And  Prizes  ^^    for    the    year    lg90      Thg    prizeg    were 

awarded  amid  banquetting  and  general  festivity.  In  one  di- 
vision, the  clerk  who  won  the  medal,  threw  10,367  cards, 
99.98%  correct.  The  test  took  seven  hours  and  one  minute. 
This  feat  of  memory  seems  almost  impossible  and  was  very 
deserving  of  the  recognition  it  received. 


I  HE    I  IBBARV 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Interior  Arrangement  of  One  of  the  First  Mail  Cars. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


WORKING  CONDITIONS. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  phases  of  growth  in  the  rail- 
way mail  service  is  the  development  in  the  construction  of 
postal  cars  and  the  improvement  of  their  equipment.  Some- 
times, in  the  evolution  of  a  movement,  some  part  of  it  moves 
much  slower  than  other  parts,  and  a  near  revolution  is  neces- 
sary to  give  the  evolution  even  growth.  This  was  the  case 
in  the  matter  of  postal  cars,  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale. 

At  first  the  traveling  post  office  occupied  apartments,  often 
very  small  ones,  in  the  ends  of  baggage  cars.  Pigeon  holes 
or  letter  cases  were  made  against  the  wall,  and  what  papers 
or  packages  were  received  and  distributed  were  sorted  into 
boxes  on  the  floor.  As  the  country  became  more  thickly  set- 
tled, and  the  amount  of  mail  increased,  it  was 
li,arly  Fostal  fOUnd  necessary  to  use  entire  cars  on  the  trunk 
lines  to  accommodate  railway  post  offices.  The 
first  full  railway  postal  cars  were  used  in  1867.  They  were 
forty  feet  long,  and  contained  in  one  end  pigeon  holes  or  let- 
ter cases,  and  in  the  other  end  boxes  arranged  against  the 
wall  in  a  semi-circle,  for  the  distribution  of  papers  and  pack- 
ages. 

Later  the  circular  paper  cases  were  replaced  by  wooden 
racks,  placed  along  the  middle  part  of  the  cars  in  which  open- 
mouth  sacks  were  hung.  The  wooden  racks  consisted  of 
rows  of  wooden  bars,  one  foot  apart  and  six  feet  long,  placed 
on  top  of  supporting  posts  or  stanchions,  and  running  length- 
wise of  the  cars.  The  bars  contained  hooks  on  which  the 
sacks  were  hung,  and  they  could  be  taken  from  the  posts  when 
not  in  use.  There  were  four  rows  of  sacks,  and  each  row  was 
four  inches  higher  than  the  one  in  front  of  it,  the  rack  being 


50  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

so  elevated  and  the  floor  so  raised  as  to  accommodate  the  ele- 
vation of  the  rack.  This  left  room  for  a  table  in  front,  and  an 
aisle  along  the  side  of  the  car.  Changes  were  made  later  in 
both  letter  and  paper  cases.  Mr.  W.  L.  Hunt,  superintendent 
at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  had  a  rack  made  of  gas  pipe  instead  of 
wooden  bars.  This  rack  was  level  on  top  instead  of  being  ele- 
vated for  the  back  rows,  and  was  stationary.  These  two  feat- 
ures were  inferior  to  the  old  wooden  rack,  but  the  idea  of  using 
iron  pipe  was  appropriated  by  Mr.  C.  R.  Harrison,  of  Chicago, 
who  devised  the  Harrison  collapsible  rack,  which,  with  little 
or  no  improvement,  is  in  use  at  the  present  time.  The  Harri- 
son racks,  as  seen  in  the  pictures,  accommodate  two  rows  of 
racks  on  either  side  of  a  center  aisle,  are  entirely  of  iron,  and 
when  not  in  use,  can  be  folded  back  against  the  sides  of  the 
car  or  taken  out  entirely.     (See  Frontispiece.) 

There  was  more  variation  in  the  latter  cases,  depending 
on  the  size  of  the  car.  Some  of  the  largest  lines  now  have  ex- 
clusive letter  cars,  and  new  full  mail  cars,  in  which  both  let- 
ter and  paper  mail  is  worked,  have  the  letter  cases  placed  in 
the  center,  while  sections  of  paper  racks  extend  toward  each 
end.  Space  is  left,  however,  in  the  extreme  ends  of  these  cars 
for  piling  full  sacks,  and  stalls  are  provided,  in  order  that  dif- 
ferent kinds   of  mail   may   be    kept    separate. 

Modern  These   letter   cases   are   so   arranged   that   the 

Postal  Cars 

same  box  may  be  used  for  more  than  one  town 

or  route.  Some  sections  may  be  taken  from  the  wall  and 
turned  around,  and  used  for  different  separations.  In  other 
cars  a  section  is  labeled  on  one  side  for  an  outward  trip,  and 
on  the  reverse  side  for  the  return  trip.  Some  cases  are  pro- 
vided with  revolving  strips  in  front  of  the  rows  of  boxes,  which 
can  be  labeled  four  ways  and  turned  as  desired. 

The  other  equipment  of  a  postal  car  is  inconspicuous,  but 
necessary  to  the  work.  The  old  open  stoves  of  early  railroad 
days  were  displaced  by  Baker  heaters,  and  later  by  steam  heat 
from  the  engine.  Lights  were  very  important,  owing  to  the 
difficult  eye-work  of  mail  clerks,  and,  soon  after  the  begin- 
ning of  mail  distribution  on  the  road,  German  student  lamps 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  51 

were  placed  in  the  cars.  Now,  good  oil  lamps,  compressed 
gas,  and  electric  lights  are  used,  varying  with  different  rail- 
road companies.  Drawers  are  made  under  the  tables  for  books 
and  supplies.  Coat  closets  and  w/ash  basins  are  provided,  and 
in  the  newest  cars  there  is  apparatus  for  cooking  either  by 
steam  or  by  gas. 

Work  on  railroads  always  has  been  somewhat  dangerous, 
but  working  in  the  postal  cars  during  the  first  half  century 
of  the  railway  post  office  was  almost  like  working  in  a  powder 
mill.      Before   the   advent   of   double   tracks,   automatic   block 
systems,  heavy  rails  and  ballast,  the  air  brake,  and  state  con-' 
trol  of  working  hours  of  railroad   employees, 
anger     rom     wrecics  occurred  with  awful  frequency.     The 
postal   clerk   was   in   greatest   danger   in   case 
of  a  wreck.     His  car  was  generally  the  weakest  in  the  train, 
often  being  a  remodeled  baggage  car,  and,  being  at  the  front 
of  the  train,  received  the  brunt  of  the  impact  in  case  of  a  col- 
lision, or  followed  the  engine  in  case  of  a  derailment. 

The  report  of  the  postmaster-general  for  1883  contained 
eleven  printed  pages  of  wrecks,  and  the  report  for  1884  con- 
tained fourteen  pages.  In  these  reports  these  sentences  and 
parts  of  sentences  occur,  with  grim  regularity:  "Mail  car  was 
completely  destroyed;"  " — was  severely  bruised  about  the  head 
and  back;"  " — was  fatally  injured  and  died  the  next  morning;" 
" — was  severely  cut  and  bruised,  and  also  injured  about  the 
spine;"  " — jumped  from  his  car  before  collision  occurred;" 
" — was  thrown  upon  a  pile  of  railroad  iron  and  sustained  a 
compound  fracture  of  the  ankle;"  " — was  thrown  backward 
over  the  paper  rack;"  " — was  precipitated  from  the  mail  car 
by  force  of  the  collision  and  badly  injured,  and  died  on  the 
second  of  December;"  " — was  thrown  from  the  door,  and  strik- 
ing on  his  head  his  neck  was  broken,  killing  him  instantlv ;" 
" — received  injuries  resulting  in  his  death  the  next  morning  f 
" — Was  caught  in  the  wreck  and  burned  to  death ;"  " — his 
body  was  so  badly  crushed  as  to  be  unrecognizable,"  etc. 

From  1877  to  1884,  twenty-five  clerks  were  killed  and  one 
hundred  forty-seven  seriously  injured  out  of  an  average  num- 


52  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

ber  employed  of  3,153.  From  1885  to  1892,  forty-three  clerks 
were  killed  and  four  hundred  sixty-three  were  seriously  in- 
jured out  of  an  average  number  of  5,329.    Some  of  these  wrecks 

were  very  remarkable.  On  the  Salida  &  Grand 
Weak  Mail         Junction,  the  engine  and  mail  car  went  through 

the  bridge  into  the  Gunnison  River.  Postal 
Clerk  Williams  escaped  from  his  car  to  some  floating  tim- 
bers, and  was  rescued  a  mile  and  a  half  down  the  river.  He 
received  a  cut  on  the  right  cheek  four  inches  long,  extend- 
ing across  his  right  eye  and  was  injured  about  the  hips. 

While  much  improvement  in  other  equipment  was  taking 
place,  little  or  no  improvement  was  made  in  the  construction 
of  postal  cars.  Railroad  companies  were  permitted  to  build 
cars  of  material  of  the  same  weight  and  strength  as  was  used 
in  the  construction  of  passenger  coaches,  regardless  of  the 
fact  that  the  former  were  assigned  to  a  more  hazardous  place 
in  trains.  In  1891  steps  were  taken  by  the  government,  to 
require  railroad  companies  to  furnish  stronger  cars.  Superin- 
tendent James  E.  White  appointed  a  committee  of  three  di- 
vision superintendents,  to  draw  up  plans  and  specifications 
for  car  construction.  This  committee,  composed  of  Division 
Superintendents  Troy,  Burt,  and  Pepper,  reported  in  Septem- 
ber, recommending  specifications  which  were  adopted  by  the 
government.  The  improvement  for  the  mos£  part  consisted 
in  heavier  sills,  supporting  truss  rods,  and  the  use  of  iron 
plates  on  exposed  parts  of  beams  and  sills. 

The  specifications  for  postal  car  construction,  adopted  in 
1891,  undoubtedly  caused  an  improvement  over  the  old  cars. 
At  least  they  increased  the  average  weight  of  mail  cars  al- 
most ten  tons,  and  must  have  increased  their  strength  very 
materially.  The  number  of  casualties,  however,  did  not  de- 
crease as  fast  as  might  be  imagined. 

From  1890  to  1900,  fifty-seven  clerks  were  killed  and  three 
hundred  eighty-five  were  seriously  injured.  The  average  an- 
nual number  employed  was  7,576.  A  comparison  of  the  period 
from  1877  to  1891,  with  the  one  from  1892  to  1900,  shows  that 
the  average  number  killed  per  thousand  is  about  the  same,  be- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  53 

ing  one  plus   in   each  period.     The  average  number  injured, 
however,  was  much  less  in  the  latter  period. 

As  stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  framing  specifi- 
cations called  for  some  improvement,  but  in  a  few  years  they 
were  far  below  the  rising  scale  of  heavy  engine  and  car  con- 
struction. In  1903  and  1904,  the  number  of  wrecks  was  un- 
usual. Eighteen  clerks  were  killed  each  of  these  years,  and 
seventy-eight  were  seriously  injured  in  the  former,  and  ninety 
in  the  latter.  The  department  adopted  stronger  specifications 
in  1904,  and  division  superintendents  were  instructed  to  in- 
spect cars  during  construction  as  well  as  before  accepting  them 
for  service.  The  weight  of  postal  cars  was  increased  by  the 
specifications  of  1904  over  fourteen  tons,  and  safety  rods  were 
installed.  Safety  rods  are  two  rods  of  gas  pipe  suspended  from 
the  roof  and  running  the  length  of  the  car.  They  are  about 
seven  feet  from  the  floor,  and  are  used  by  the  clerks  to  swing 
on  in  case  of  a  wreck. 

The  next  year  showed  a  noticeable  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  fatalities,  due  partly  to  the  better  class  of  cars.  Of 
course,  it  was  impossible  to  compel  railroad  companies  to  sub- 
stitute these  improved  cars  immediately  on  all  lines,  but  their 
gradual  introduction  afforded  some  relief.  The  men  in  the 
service  never  doubted  the  good  faith  of  the  Department  in  its 
efforts  to  promote  their  safety  at  this  time,  and  they  worked 
under  unfavorable  conditions  without  complaint.  A  storm 
was  brewing,  however,  on  postal  service  administration,  which 
was  soon  to  break  with  remarkable  violence.  The  reasons 
why  administrative  trouble  did  not  occur  sooner  are  twofold. 

As  stated,  the  clerks  had  full  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and 
sincerity  of  their  administrative  officials,  all  of  whom,  ex- 
cepting the  Postmaster-General,  had  risen  to  their  respective 
offices  from  the  ranks.  They  were  particularly  loyal  to  the 
General  Superintendent,  Capt.  James  E.  White,  who  served 
until  1907.  In  the  second  place,  the  personnel  of  the  railway 
mail  service  consisted  of  the  most  loyal,  patriotic,  and  patient 
men  in  the  country,  who  were  naturally  slow  to  make  trouble 
over  any  condition. 


54  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

The  personnel  of  the  railway  mail  service  affords  an  in- 
teresting view  socialogically.  From  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  civil  service  examinations  for  entrance,  the  ideas,  ideals,  and 
to  a  great  extent,  the  qualifications  of  mail  clerks,  were  strik- 
ingly similar.  This  similarity  was  due  largely  to  the  fact  that 
all  were  obliged  to  pass  the  same  kind  of  examination  for  en- 
trance, and  that  a  majority  of  them  came  from  the  same  oc- 
cupation, school  teaching.  The  latter  fact  was  so  noticeable 
that  a  new  appointee  on  meeting  old  clerks 
Sociology  was  generaUy  asked,  much    to    his    surprise, 

where  he  taught  school.  Previous  habits  of  study  and  ideas 
of  discipline,  together  with  similar  study  and  work  after  ap- 
pointment, and  the  fact  that  they  were  doing  a  public  service 
in  which  they  were  oath-bound  and  under  bond  to  do  their 
duty,  all  tended  to  make  railway  postal  clerks  the  most  loyal, 
patriotic,  and  efficient  class  of  men  in  the  country.  In  fact, 
they  were  almost  egotistical,  looking  upon  postmasters  and 
other  political  parasites  with  commiseration,  if  not  with  scorn. 

At  various  times  local  clubs  or  associations  were  organ- 
ized in  different  places,  and  in  1891,  a  number  of  leading  clerks 
met  at  Chicago  and  organized  the  National  Association  of  Rail- 
way Postal  Clerks.  A  few  years  later  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  Railway  Mail  Association.  The  purpose  of  the  organi- 
zation at  first  was  only  fraternal,  but  in  1898,  a  beneficiary  de- 
partment was  established.  Old-line  insurance  companies  did 
not  offer  protection  at  reasonable  rates,  owing  to  the  hazard- 
ous nature  of  the  occupation.  The  Association,  for  an  assess- 
ment of  about  one  dollar  a  month,  furnished  a  mutual  insur- 
ance, which  provided  for  accident  and  death.  The  amounts 
in  each  case  were  increased  from  time  to  time,  until  unusually 
good  payments  were  secured,  being  for  death,  $4,000,  loss  of 
a  limb  or  eye,  $1,000,  and  disability  by  accident,  $18  a  week, 
while  unable  to  work. 

The  Association,  through  its  officers  and  committees,  also 
secured  many  concessions,  such  as  increased  wages,  better 
facilities,  and  reduced  bond  rates.  Each  division  has  a  branch 
organization,  similar  and  subordinate  to  the  National  Associa- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  55 

tion.      Division   conventions   are   held   biennially   in   most   di- 
visions, and  the  National  convention  is  held  bi- 

Rail way  Mail     ennjaiiy.     The  presidents   of  the   division   or- 
.Associ3.ti.ons  •  •  • 

ganizations  constitute  the  executive  committee 

of  the   National   Association.      The   conventions   are   devoted 

partly  to  the  discussion  of  mail  service  affairs,  and  partly  to 

social  affairs.    In  each  city  where  a  sufficient  number  of  clerks 

reside,  local  branches  of  the  Association  are  organized,  and, 

monthly  meetings,  partly  business  and  partly  social,  are  held. 

Any  world  would  be  incomplete  without  women,  and  es- 
pecially would  the  world  of  the  postal  clerks.  In  the  meetings 
of  branch,  division,  and  National  associations,  very  naturally 
were  seen  the  wives  of  attending  clerks.  Consequently,  the 
women  of  the  mail  service  soon  saw  the  need  of  an  organiza- 
tion. In  1899,  a  national  organization  was  formed  at  Indian- 
apolis, and  called  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  to  the  Railway  Mail 
Association.  The  organization  was  formed  "for  the  promo- 
tion of  all  interests  of  the  Railway  Mail  Association,  and  for 
the  comfort,  social  enjoyment,  and  literary  advancement  of 
families  of  railway  postal  clerks." 

The  Woman's  Auxiliary  started  with  eight  branches, -but 
soon  it  increased  rapidly.  The  chapters  or  branches  hold 
mixed  meetings  part  of  the  time,  and  various  entertainments 
and  banquets  are  provided.  The  women  of  the  mail  service 
also  play  an  active  part  in  club  affairs,  the  Auxiliary  having 
been  admitted  to  affiliated  membership  in  the  General  Federa- 
tion of  Women's  Clubs  in  1908.  Aside  from  its  work  in  club- 
dom, the  Woman's  Auxiliary  is  a  valuable  aid  to  the  men  of 
the  service.  In  addition  to  immediate  relief  work  for  families 
of  injured  clerks,  the  Auxiliary  stands  with  ready  sympathy 
and  appreciation  for  the  fellows  in  their  exacting  and  danger- 
ous work.  This  idea  is  well  expressed  by  the  new  general 
secretary  in  1915,  in  the  following  greetings:  "We  love  you 
each  and  every  one,  and  when  twilight  ushers  in  the  night  and 
across  the  stillness  comes  the  shrill  whistle  of  some  Mogul, 
we  breathe  a  prayer  for  the  safety  of  our  boys,  for  we  are  just 
one  large  family,  for  whose  welfare  the  women  of  the  Auxil- 
iary have  pledged  themselves." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


READJUSTMENT. 

The  first  decade  of  the  new  century  witnessed  a  great  ex- 
pansion in  the  West  and  Northwest,  not  so  large  as  that  which 
preceded  the  Civil  War,  but  of  sufficient  proportions  to  affect 
the  volume  of  mail  in  those  parts  as  well  as  in  the  entire  coun- 
try. There  was  much  immigration  to  the  Dakotas,  Montana, 
Canada,  Texas,  and  the  Pacific  slope.  Railway  mail  service 
was  extended  on  many  roads,  and  the  amount  of  mail  increased 
on  all  lines  in  these  territories.  This  was  a  period  also  of 
great  development  in  railway  transportation.  Improvement 
in  track  construction  and  rolling  stock,  with  the  exception  of 
postal  cars,  was  marked.  The.  conveniences  and  luxuries  of 
travel  now:  reached  a  high  state  of  perfection. 

In  November,  1902,  postal  clerks  were  somewhat  surprised 
to  read  in  the  weekly  bulletin,  an  order  issued  by  President 
Roosevelt,  known  as  Executive  Order  No.  XII.  The  cause  of 
the  order  was  not  connected  with  the  mail  service,  but  the 
fact  that  it  was  issued  is  noteworthy  at  this  point.  The  order 
is  as  follows:  "All  officers  and  employees  of  the  United  States 
of  every  description,  serving  in  or  under  any  of  the  executive 
departments  or  independent  government  establishments,  and 
whether  so  serving  in  or  out  of  Washington, 
The  "Gag"  are   hereby  forbidden   either  directly   or   indi- 

Order  rectly,  individually,  or  through  associations,  to 

solicit  an  increase  of  pay  or  influence  in  their  own  interest  any 
other  legislation  whatever,  either  before  Congress  or  in  its 
committees,  or  in  any  way  save,  through  the  department  or 
independent  government  establishments  in  or  under  which 
they  serve,  on  penalty  of  dismissal  from  the  government  serv- 
ice."    The  order,  while  surprising  to  those  familiar  with  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  57 

first  article  of  the  first  ten  amendments  to  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, did  not  alarm  the  mail  clerks,  for  they  had  no  occa- 
sion at  that  time  for  petitioning  Congress. 

A  few  years  later  it  became  apparent  to  clerks  on  many 
lines  that  their  conditions,  from  the  standpoint  of  safety  and 
sanitation,  were  bad,  and  that  these  might  be  improved  if  the 
officials  in  charge  would  make  the  necessary  efforts.  The  main 
grievances  related  to  dangerous  cars,  unsanitary  toilets,  and 
unclean  drinking  water.  When  clerks  bethought  themselves 
of  petitioning  Congress  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  they  found 
that  they  were  not  allowed  that  privilege,  owing  to  the  Roose- 
velt executive  order  of  1902.  Instructions  were  issued  to  the 
effect  that  all  matters  must  be  taken  up  through  the  heads  of 
the  department  under  pain  of  dismissal.  On  one  occasion  a 
number  of  clerks  prepared  a  petition  to  Congress,  favoring  the 
passage  of  a  bill  drafted  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, to  require  railroads  to  adopt  a  block  signal  system. 
Before  presenting  it,  they  took  the  precaution  of  first  sub- 
mitting it  to  the  department  where  they  were  informed  by  the 
second  assistant  postmaster-general  that  they  should  not  pre- 
sent the  petition  directly  to  Congress,  stating  that  it  was  not 
"happily  worded." 

By  the  summer  of  1909,  there  was  great  dissatisfaction 
among  many  postal  clerks.  Conditions  on  some  lines  were 
intolerable.     Representatives  of  the  Railway  Mail  Association 

endeavored,  in  a  polite  way,  to  secure  improve- 
Unsatisfac-  ments   in   regard  to   sanitation,    salaries,    and 

Conditions  other  service  matters,  but  with  little  success. 

Some  enlisted  the  aid  of  their  congressmen 
surreptitiously,  but  this  was  dangerous  practice,  because  a  post 
office  clerk  had  been  removed  for  giving  information  irregu- 
larly. It  was  hoped  that  the  Taft  administration  would  remedy 
the  situation,  but  it  did  the  opposite. 

Postmaster-General  Hitchcock  had  a  wonderful  opportunity 
on  entering  office.  A  little  tact  and  understanding  of  the  situa- 
tion, together  with  sensible  improvement  of  conditions  in  re- 
gard to  cars,  would  have  made  matters  all  right.   Mr.  Taft  was 


58  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

expected  to  rescind  the  executive  order  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  now- 
known  as  the  Gag  rule,  but  in  spite  of  his  extensive  judicial 
_    .    .  .  experience,  he  revamped  the  order  forbidding 

tr  Tj  government    employees    to   petition    Congress. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  was  apparently  obsessed  with 
the  idea  of  saving  some  millions  of  the  appropriation  for  the 
Post  Office  Department,  and  he  gave  his  intentions  much  pub- 
licity. The  two  principal  places  of  saving  were  supposed  to 
be  in  shipping  heavy  publications  by  freight  and  in  economical 
employment.  The  former  contemplated  the  shipment  of  heavy 
monthly  publications  by  freight  to  a  place  near  their  destina- 
tion from  which  they  would  be  mailed. 

The  scheme  of  shipping  by  freight  was  almost  a  failure. 
Of  course,  the  publishers  made  strenuous  objection  to  their 
papers  being  forwarded  as  box  car  mail  when  they  had  paid 
regular  mail  rates.  In  that  quarter  of  the  United  States,  where 
the  quadrennial  weighing  of  the  mail  was  in  progress,  the 
freight  mail  caused  dire  confusion.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
keep  it  straight  by  the  use  of  blue  tags,  but  there  is  no  system 
of  mathematics  which  could  keep  blue  tag  and  regular  mail 
straight  in  weight  balances,  and  a  special  weighing  was  neces- 
sary. In  response  to  strong  protests  from  the  publishers  af- 
fected, Congress,  in  1912,  prohibited  the  extension  of  the  plan. 
The  economies  effected  in  the  reorganization  and  super- 
vision of  employees  was  a  worse  blunder.  Promotions  were 
delayed,  regular  clerks  were  obliged  to  double  up  to  save  the 
hiring  of  substitutes  when  necessitated  by  annual  vacations  or 
sickness,  substitutes  were  used  in  vacancies  in  place  of  regu- 
larly appointed  clerks,  and  lines  were  reorganized  so  as  to 
eliminate  men  where  possible. 

How  long  this  state  of  affairs  would  have  lasted  without 
open  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  patient  clerks,  and  what  form 
their  objection  would  have  taken,  had  not  a  champion  arisen 
in  the  shape  of  a  free-lance  paper,  it  is  hard  to  tell.  However, 
in  the  spring  of  1909,  announcements  were  circulated  that  a 
paper  would  be  published  from  Phoenix,  Arizona,  that  would 
fight  postal  maladministration.    In  June,  the  first  number  ap- 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  Of  ILLINOIS 


Albuquerque  &   Los  Angeles   Railway    Post  Office — In   Apache   Canyon, 
New  Mexico   (Santa  Fe  Railroad). 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  59 

peared.  It  was  called  the  Harpoon,  and  was  edited  by  Urban 
A.  Walter.  As  a  propaganda  paper,  the  Harpoon  was  the 
most  remarkable  publication  since  the  time  of  William  Lloyd 
Garrison.  The  cover  contained  a  drawing  of  a  harpoon  and 
the  statement,  "A  magazine  that  hurts."  At 
The  Harpoon  tjie  tQ^  Q^  ^  ecjjtorial  page  was  tne  announce- 
ment, "Strike?  No!  Publicity?  Yes!"  Mr.  Walter  stated  that 
his  purpose  was  to  turn  the  calcium  light  of  public  opinion  on 
Civil  Service  Rule  Xo.  XII,  removals  without  notice,  unsani- 
tary cars,  unsafe  cars,  and  other  unjust  practices  in  postal  ad- 
ministration. 

It  is  too  early  to  estimate  exactly  the  value  of  the  part 
played  by  Urban  A.  Walter  in  the  history  of  this  period.  What- 
ever may  be  said  concerning  his  diction  or  methods,  none  can 
gainsay  his  energy  and  ability.  Mr.  Walter  had  been  a  clerk 
in  the  Xew  York  &  Chicago  Railway  Post  Office,  and  had  gone 
to  Arizona  for  his  health.  The  conditions  prevalent  in  the  serv- 
ice, moved  him  to  resign  and  launch  a  paper  of  protest.  He 
soon  moved  from  Phoenix  to  Denver,  from  which  city  he 
pushed  a  vigorous  campaign  of  publicity.  He  denounced  un- 
sanitary and  unsafe  cars  in  most  scathing  language.  In  this 
campaign  he  was  aided  and  furnished  with  information  by  men 
in  the  cars.  In  one  case,  an  extreme,  if  not  an  unrepresentative, 
one,  a  bottle  was  sent  him  containing  the  carcass  of  a  rat 
taken  from  a  water  tank.  This  action  resulted  in  the  dismissal 
of  the  clerk  who  sent  it,  who  in  turn  was  given  a  position  on 
the  staff  of  the  Harpoon.  Copies  were  mailed  to  all  members 
of  Congress,  and  to  the  editors  of  many  papers  and  magazines. 
All  through  the  summer  of  1900,  the  Harpoon  continued  to 
feature  unsanitary  cars,  wrecks  of  wooden  mail  cars,  the  "gag" 
rule,  and  other  like  subjects.  Mr.  Walter  also  sent  hundreds 
of  letters  and  telegrams  to  congressmen,  concerning  postal 
measures  that  had  been  introduced  by  progressive  members, 
and  he  secured  altogether  two  hundred  pledges  from  congress- 
men and  candidates. 

In  the  fall  the  department  began  to  regulate  the  consist 
of  trains,  so  that  wooden  mail  cars    could    not    be    run    be- 


60  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

tween  steel  baggage  cars  and  the  engine.  Chief  clerks  were 
required  to  report  the  consist  of  trains  containing  steel 
cars.  Some  steel  cars  were  being  put  into  use  with  most  grati- 
fying results.  Sanitation  was  improved  considerably,  but  the 
"gag"  order  remained,  and,  even  worse,  the  purpose  of  the 
Postmaster-General  to  economize  in  the  force  of  postal  clerks. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  much    dissatisfaction    had    been 
created  among  the  clerks  by  unaccountable  delays  in  promo- 
tions, some  official  advanced  the  idea  that  a  saving  could  be 
made  by  taking  up  the  slack;"  i.  e.,  taking  up 
Impairing  some  of  the  weeks-off    and    lengthening    the 

hours  of  duty  on  the  road.  This  order  to  take 
up  the  slack,  together  with  the  curtailment  of  extra  regular 
help,  discouraged  the  most  loyal  of  clerks.  Good,  fast  men, 
who  formerly  had  said  proudly,  "We  never  go  stuck,"  now 
admitted  that  they  didn't  care  much  if  they  didn't  "clean  up." 

The  winter  of  1910-11  was  a  dark  one  in  the  railway  mail 
service.  Besides  taking  up  the  so-called  slack,  the  customary 
help  for  holidays  was  not  allowed,  and  tons  of  Christmas  mail 
remained  unworked  for  several  days.  Some  of  it  was  dis- 
patched to  cars,  sidetracked  at  depots  for  that  purpose,  and 
there  worked  up  by  men  called  from  their  rest  periods,  while 
some  rode  back  and  forth  on  the  stuck  lines  until  it  could  be 
worked  out.  In  the  section  where  the  quadrennial  weighing 
was  in  progress,  this  stuck  mail,  riding  back  and  forth,  be- 
came a  four-years'  expense,  because  the  pay  to  railroad  com- 
panies for  hauling  the  mail  was  based  on  the  quadrennial 
weighing.  On  Christmas  Eve  a  bad  wreck  occurred  to  the 
mail  car  on  the  Norfolk  &  Western,  in  which  four  clerks  were 
killed.  The  car,  a  new  one,  was  of  pine  construction,  and  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  passed  at  inspection  in  face  of  a  proviso 
to  the  postal  law,  which  went  into  effect  July  1,  requiring  mail 
cars  to  be  "safe  and  sound  in  material  and  construction"  was 
not  understood  by  the  clerks. 

The  press  of  the  country,  although  largely  of  the  same 
political  faith  as  the  administration,  began  to  be  skeptical  of 
Mr.   Hitchcock's   economy  policy.     Leading    magazines    and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  61 

daily  papers  published  accounts  of  disaffection  in  the  railway 
mail  and  regular  post  office  services.   At  Christmas  time,  pho- 
tographs of  huge  piles  of  stuck  mail  were  taken 
Opposition  To    \^y  representatives  of  the  press,  and  illustrated 

mtcncoc    s         newspaper   broadsides    were    launched    at    the 
.Policies 

Postmaster-General.    In  Denver,  Urban  Walter 

was  arrested  by  an  official  of  a  railroad  station,  where  he  was 

photographing  trucks  of  stuck   mail,  but   on   communicating 

with   local  postal   officials,  who   evidently  were  unwilling   to 

back  up  the  company,  the  official  released  him,  and  his  pictures 

were  carried  in  the  Denver  paper  on  the  twenty-fifth. 

In  January,  1911,  matters  came  to  a  crisis.  In  taking  up 
the  slack,  a  crew  of  clerks  in  South  Dakota  refused  to  keep  up 
extra  runs  without  extra  pay.  The  line  in  question  ran  from 
Tracy,-  Minnesota,  to  Pierre,  South  Dakota,  but  twelve  out 
of  the  sixteen  men  assigned  to  the  line  lived  in  South  Dakota. 
The  route  was  two  hundred  twenty-five  miles  in  length,  and 
extended  into  a  rapidly  growing  country.  There 
The  Tracy  &  iia(j  been  much  dissatisfaction  with  condi- 
tions on  the  line,  so  much  so  that  the  previous 
cident  ,     ,  1     . 

year  sixteen  men  had  resigned,  or  transferred 

from  it.  These  resignations  had  occasioned  eighty  different 
assignments  of  substitutes  to  the  line,  whose  inexperience  made 
it  hard  on  the  regular  men.  In  order  to  keep  down  a  higher 
classification  of  the  line,  six  of  the  men  were  supposed  to  run 
only  to  Blunt,  which  is  about  thirty  miles  short  of  Pierre. 
There  were  no  accommodations  at  Blunt,  and  the  men  were 
obliged  to  run  on  through,  although  they  were  not  so  assigned. 
Some  of  the  men,  designated  as  helpers,  ran  only  between 
Huron  and  Tracy.  In  taking  up  the  slack,  the  regular  clerks 
were  ordered  to  keep  up  a  vacancy  on  one  of  these  helper  runs. 
Since  the  runs  began  and  ended  at  Huron,  those  clerks  liv- 
ing at  Tracy  and  at  Pierre  would  have  to  deadhead  to  Huron 
twelve  hours  before  leaving  time.  This  extra  work  and  dead- 
heading took  two  days  and  three  nights  out  of  the  week- 
off  periods,  and,  of  course,  there  was  no  extra  pay  in  it.  The 
clerks  so  affected  objected  to  the  order  and  refused  to  keep 


62  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

up  the  extra  run,  but  did  not  refuse  to  keep  up  the  runs  to 
which  they  regularly  belonged.  With  the  exception  of  one 
man,  each  clerk  declined  to  take  out  his  run  on  the  extra  sched- 
ule, and  each  in  turn  was  suspended  for  insubordination  and 
failure  to  protect  runs. 

Here  was  a  startling  situation.  It  was  virtual  mutiny,  but 
was  justified  on  the  ground  of  unjust  and  even  physically 
unendurable  conditions.  Of  course,  the  mail  output,  like  time 
and  tide,  waited  not  for  these  men,  and  a  remarkable  conges- 
tion ensued.  In  addition  to  the  one  regular  man,  who  remained 
on  the  line,  one  was  transferred  from  the  Elroy  &  Tracy  line, 
and  one  from  the  office  of  the  Chief  Clerk  at  Winona.  These 
three  clerks  and  a  score  of  substitutes,  often  six  in  a  car,  were 
"snowed"  under.  Mail  rode  up  and  down  the  line  until  some 
of  it  was  a  week  old  before  it  was  delivered.  At  one  place 
1,100  sacks  were  piled  on  a  station  platform  waiting  assort- 
ment. 

As  in  case  of  all  crises,  public  opinion,  that  unwieldy  but  re- 
sistless force,  with  which  too  many  politicians  of  this  period 
had  not  reckoned,  began  to  rouse  itself.  The  public  did  not 
know  as  to  the  merits  of  the  case,  but  it  did  know  that  it 
wanted  its  mail,  and  that  without  delay.  Telegrams  poured 
into  Washington,  St.  Paul  and  Pierre,  and  various  other  places 
where  there  was  hope  of  securing  relief.  The  Minnesota  and 
South  Dakota  assemblies  were  in  session,  and  both  memorial- 
ized Congress  for  immediate  action  on  the  mail  situation.  In 
the  meantime,  desperate  efforts  were  made  by  the  Division  Su- 
perintendent and  local  chief  clerks  to  get  the  line  back  into 
working  order.  Five  of  the  clerks  in  question  were  dismissed 
from  the  service,  and  eight  were  reduced  at  the  time  of  their 
refusal  to  do  the  extra  duty.  Some  clerks  were  induced  to 
transfer  to  the  line  by  a  raise  in  salary,  and  later  the  reduced 
clerks  were  restored  to  the  line,  the  objectionable  arrangement 
for  the  ending  of  the  helper  runs  at  Blunt  was  changed  so  that 
both  helpers  ran  through  to  Pierre,  and  the  class  of  the  line 
was  raised  one  hundred  dollars  a  year. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


St.  Paul  &  Havre  Railway  Post  Office — Great  Northern  Oriental  Limited 
Crossing  Arch   Bridge,  St.   Paul. 


HISTORY  OP  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  63 

Throughout  the  spring  and  summer  following,  the  fight 
went  merrily  on.  The  average  clerk,  in  fact  every  one  of  them, 
did  all  he  could  to  perform  good  service  under  unfavorable 
conditions.  Contributions  were  taken  and  sent  to  the  Tracy  & 
Pierre  clerks,  the  Harpoon  alone  collecting  and  forwarding 
five  hundred  dollars.  The  Railway  Mail  Association  was  un- 
able to  do  much  to  help  the  situation.  In  the 
Determined  tenth  division,  of  which  St.  Paul  is  the  head- 
oPcierks1  garters,  the  division  president,  Mr.  Carl  Van 

Dyke,  was  reduced  and  transferred  from  the 
road  to  the  local  post  office  for  activity  in  behalf  of  the  clerks. 
Organizations  were  formed,  however,  and  a  movement  was 
started  to  affiliate  them  with  the  Federation  of  Labor.  The 
Department,  of  course,  viewed  this  move  with  apprehension. 
The  slack  order  was  somewhat  modified,  and  the  general  sup- 
erintendent of  the  Railway  Mail  Service  was  made  the  "goat." 
and  demoted  to  the  rank  of  division  superintendent. 

The  Railway  Mail  Association  simultaneously  passed 
through  an  upheaval.  As  a  fraternal  and  social  organization, 
it  was  well  organized,  and  its  work  was  satisfactory  to  the 
clerks  as  a  whole.  When  opposition  to  Hitchcock's  economy 
measures  arose,  a  large  and  progressive  element  desired  that 
the  Association  register  a  respectful,  but  powerful,  protest.  A 
smaller,  but  stronger,  element,  consisting  largely  of  associa- 
tion officers,  prevented  any  resolutions  of  protest  from  being 
passed  by  the  national  conventions,  and  any  strong  letters 
being  published  in  the  Association's  official  organ,  The  Railway 
Post  Office.  The  action  of  this  element  was  much  criticised. 
Some  were  suspected  of  being  ambitious  for  promotion  at  the 
hands  of  the  Department,  which  suspicion  was  practically 
groundless.  Others  were  thought  to  be  so  abnormally  loyal, 
as  to  believe  that  the  heads  of  the  Department  could  do  no 
wrong,  and  too  subservient  to  try  to  protect  their  legal  rights 
as   citizens. 

The  feelings  of  a  majority  were  unmistakable.  The  Division 
Association  elections  showed  the  drift.  In  some  divisions,  men 
who  had  been  dismissed  or  reduced  for  "pernicious  activity" 


64  THE  TRAVELING   POST  OFFICE 

or  "for  the  good  of  the  cause"  were  elected  presidents.  In  the 
tenth,  Carl  Van  Dyke,  who  had  been  reduced  and  transferred 
to  the  St.  Paul  post  office,  was  employed  by  the  clerks  as 
their  grievance  secretary.  A  few  years  later  Mr.  Van  Dyke 
was  elected  to  Congress  by  the  people  of  the  district  where  he 
had  been  so  summarily  reduced.  While  a  more  progressive 
element  was  elected  to  the  offices  of  the  Railway  Mail  Associa- 
tion, a  number  of  western  clerks  organized  a  new  association, 
call  the  Brotherhood  of  Railway  Postal  Clerks  with  headquar- 
ters at  Denver. 

The  issue  now  appeared  to  be  settling  on  the  right  to  union- 
ize, government  labor  in  the  Railway  Mail  Service.  The  Post 
Office  Department  made  strenuous  efforts  to  prevent  the  or- 
ganization and  affiliation  of  postal  clerks  with  the  Federation 
of  Labor.  Some  advocates  of  affiliation  were  dismissed  for  the 
"good  of  the  service,"  "pernicious  activity,"  and  like  excuses. 
These  efforts,  together  with  the  general  trouble  in  the  service, 
caused  Congress  to  take  a  hand  in  the  administration  of  postal 
affairs.  Several  congressmen  introduced  measures  for  inves- 
tigating the  Post  Office  Department.  Senator  La  Follette,  of 
Wisconsin,  became  interested  in  the  matter  and  sent  letters 
to  all  of  the  clerks  in  the  country  for  information  as  to  what 
extent  they  were  being  deprived  of  their  legal  rights.  Scarcelv 
less  interested  were  many  other  congressmen,  and  soon  ade- 
quate legislation  on  the  subject  was  being  considered  on  both 
floors. 

For  various  reasons  many  clerks  did  not  desire  to  affiliate 
with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  They  felt  that  the 
proper  sphere  of  union  labor  is  limited  to  the  competitive  labor 
market.  But  the  fact  remained  that  they  were  laboring  un- 
der improper  conditions  and  a  strong  minority  were  intent  on 
securing  immediate  adjustment  of  their  grievances.  And  had 
not  Congress  at  this  time,  August,  1912,  passed  a  sweeping  and 
wise  measure,  it  is  probable  that  the  entire  service  would  have 
been  unionized  within  a  few  years. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  65 

The  act  of  1912  is  a  mile-stone  in  the  history  of  our  Civil 
Service,  and  particularly  of  the  Railway  Mail  Service.  Among 
other  things  it  abolished  "gag"  rule,  or  rule 
Congressional  which  forbade  freedom  of  speech  by  govern- 
ment employees  on  postal  affairs,  and  restored 
to  them  the  sacred  right  of  petitioning  Congress.  A  part  of 
the  text  of  the  law  is  as  follows : 

nSec.  6.  That  no  person  in  the  classified  civil  service  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  removed  therefrom,  except  for  such 
cause  as  will  promote  the  efficiency  of  said  service  and  for 
reasons  given  in  writing,  and  the  person  whose  removal  is 
sought,  shall  have  notice  of  the  same,  and  of  any  charges  pre- 
ferred against  him  and  be  furnished  with  a  copy  thereof,  and 
also  be  allowed  a  reasonable  time  for  personally  answering  the 
same  in  writing,  and  affidavits  in  support  thereof;  but  no  ex- 
amination of  witnesses,  nor  any  trial  or  hearing  shall  be  re- 
quired, except  in  the  discretion  of  the  officer  making  the  re- 
moval ;  and  copies  of  charges,  notice  of  hearing,  answer,  rea- 
sons for  removal,  and  of  the  order  of  removal  shall  be  made 
a  part  of  the  records  of  the  proper  department  or  office,  as  shall 
also  the  reasons  for  reduction  in  rank  or  compensation ;  and 
copies  of  the  same  shall  be  furnished  to  the  person  affected 
upon  request,  and  the  civil  service  commission  also  shall,  upon 
request,  be  furnished  copies  of  the  same;  provided,  however, 
that  membership  in  any  society,  association,  club,  or  other 
form  of  organization  of  postal  employees,  not  affiliated  with  any 
outside  organization  imposing  an  obligation  or  duty  upon  them 
to  engage  in  any  strike,  or  proposing  to  assist  them  in  any 
strike,  against  the.  United  States,  having  for  its  objects,  among 
other  things,  improvements  in  the  condition  of  labor  of  its 
members,  including  hours  of  labor  and  compensation  therefor 
and  leave  of  absence,  by  any  person  or  groups  of  persons  in 
said  postal  service,  or  the  presenting  by  any  such  person  or 
groups  of  persons  of  any  grievance  or  grievances  to  the  Con- 
gress, or  any  member  thereof  shall  not  constitute  or  be  cause 
for  reduction  in  rank  or  compensation  or  removal  of  such  per- 
son or  groups  of  persons  from  said  service.  The  right  of  per- 
sons employed  in  the  civil  service  of  the  United  States,  either 
individually  or  collectively,  to  petition  Congress,  or  any  mem- 
ber thereof,  or  to  furnish  information  to  either  House  or  Con- 
gress, or  to  any  committee  or  member  thereof,  shall  not  be 
denied  or  interfered  with. 

'Act  of  Congress,  Aug.  24,  1912,  Chapter  389,  Sec.  6;   Federal  St. 
Ann.,  1914  Supl.,  p.  317;   37  St.  at  Large,  p.  555. 


06  THE  TRAVELING   POST  OFFICE 

This  legislation,  together  with  other  measures,  providing 
for  the  gradual  replacing  of  wooden  mail  cars  by  steel  ones, 
and  the  advent  of  a  new  Postmaster-General,  soon  put  an  end 
to  the  unfortunate  situation.  The  law  of  1912  prohibits  clerks 
from  affiliating  with  any  organization  which  imposes  an  obliga- 
tion to  strike,  but  it  gives  them  the  right  to  petition  Congress 
and  removes  them  from  the  danger  of  summary  dismissal  at 
the  instance  of  a  superior  officer. 

The  forbidding  of  affiliation  with  an  organization,  which  im- 
poses an  obligation  to  strike,  is  really  fortunate  for  the  clerks 
themselves.  The  function  of  a  regular  labor  union  should  be 
different  from  that  of  an  association  of  government  employees. 
The  union  deals  with  problems  of  workers  employed  by  in- 
dividuals and  corporations  engaged  in  economic  and  competi- 
tive industries,  where  the  labor  of  the  employees  goes  to  the 
profit  of  their  employers.  The  weapons  of  the  union,  used 
legitimately  to  prohibit  the  invasion  of  their  rights  by  their 
employers,  for  the  purpose  of  increased  profit,  are  the  strike, 
the  boycott,  and  propaganda.  Postal  clerks,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  employed  by  the  state  to  serve  communal  interests. 
The  universal  interest  of  the  community,  therefore,  is  to  pro- 
mote and  guarantee  the  welfare  of  the  clerks,  so  that  the  com- 
munal interests  will  be  better  served.  Congress  has  always 
provided  for  this  branch  of  the  government  in  a  fair  way.  and 
the  troubles  have  come  about  only  in  the  administration  of  the 
service.  When  the  attention  of  Congress  was  called  to  malad- 
ministration, the  necessary  remedial  legislation  was  enacted. 
In  case  clerks  should  strike  in  order  to  obtain  some  congres- 
sional action,  the  damage  of  their  striking  would  fall  upon  the 
community,  and  not  on  the  offending  officials  entrusted  with 
the  administration  of  the  service. 

Following  the  favorable  legislation  of  1912,  and  that  of  the 
following  session,  the  railway  mail  service  resumed  its  normal 
high  state  of  efficiency,  and  the  confidence  and  co-operation  of 
the  men  was  merited  and  received.  This  happy  state  of  af- 
fairs was  no  more  gratifying  to  the  men  themselves  than  to 
the  officers.  Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  division  superintend- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  67 

ents.  Any  trouble  in  the  ranks  affects  these  officers  directly. 
They  have  risen  from  the  ranks,  have  a  practical  knowledge 
of  all  the  complex  details  of  the  work  of  handling-  the  nation's 
mail,  and  have  actual  supervision  of  the  work.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  any  one  official,  without  any  previous  knowledge 
of  the  highly  organized  and  complex  institution  into  which 
the  postal  service  has  grown,  should  be  able  so  to  demoralize 
that  institution  as  to  cripple  its  efficiency.  And  the  experience 
of  this  epoch  will  doubtless  be  so  valuable  that  another  such 
readjustment  will  never  be  necessary  in  the  mail  service. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CONCLUSION. 

Since  the  readjustment  following  the  administration  of 
President  Taft  and  Postmaster-General  Hitchcock,  there  have 
been  few  important  changes  in  postal  administration.  The 
service  quickly  worked  back  to  its  accustomed  high  state  of 
efficiency,  and  there  has  been  a  gradual  expansion  of  service 
details  to  keep  pace  with  the  ever-increasing  volume  of  mail. 

In  the  winter  of  1913-14  a  system  of  terminal  distributing 
stations  called  Terminal  Railway  Post  Offices  was  adopted. 
The  germ  of  the  idea  came  from  the  old  distributing  post  offi- 
ces, and  it  was  inoculated  into  the  idea  of  lessening  the 
amount  of  work  required  in -the  traveling  postal  cars.  The 
purpose  was  to  have  worked  up  at  terminals  into  direct  sacks 
all  mail  that  would  not  be  delayed,  and  certain  circulars  and 
other  matter  which  had  no  time  value.  Quarters  for  this  work 
were  secured  in  and  near  the  depots  of  the  most  important  con- 
verging points  of  postal  routes.  The  theory  of  the  plan  was 
that  a  man  can  work  faster  in  a  stationary  room  than  on  a 
moving  train  and  that  the  space  was  cheaper.  It  was  also  de- 
signed to  employ  many  substitutes  and  beginners  at  these 
terminal  stations,  because  the  work  of  sorting  mail  out  to 
direct  sacks  is  simple. 

The  experiment  with  terminal  stations  was  only  partially 
successful.  It  tended  to  decrease  the  amount  of  working  space 
required  in  cars,  but  not  so  much  as  might  be  expected  be- 
cause much  of  the  car  space  used  was  necessary  for  first  class 
mail  and  for  daily  and  weekly  papers,  and  when  these  were 
distributed  the  same  rack  space  could  be  used  for  the  mail  that 
was  worked  in  the  terminals.  The  fact  is,  there  is  a  duplica- 
tion of  work  in  railway  and  terminal  post  offices.     The  most 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  69 

potent  objection  to  the  system  is  the  objection  on  the  part  of 
the  publishers  of  periodicals  and  mailers  of  circulars.  They 
object  to  having-  their  mail  held  in  terminals,  and  their  position 
is  quite  right.  Any  piece  of  mail  matter  which  pays  postage 
is  important  because  of  that  fact,  and  should  be  delivered  on  its 
way  promptly.  Some  of  the  terminals  first  established  were 
discontinued,  but  in  1915  there  were  eighty-eight  in  all,  em- 
ploying 2,000  clerks. 

The  expansion  of  this  division  of  the  mail  service  can  be 
seen  by  a  glance  at  its  extent.  The  report  of  the  Second  As- 
sistant Postmaster-General  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1915, 
for  the  division  of  Railway  Mail  Service  shows  over  thirty 
million  dollars  used  for  operating  and  over  fifty-six  million 
dollars  for  transportation.  Railway  post  offices  were  in  opera- 
tion on  216,439  miles  of  roads,  traveling  a  total  annual  distance 

of  322,079,796  miles.  There  were  employed  in 
;z*te™-  9z  the  work  proper  19,155  regular  postal  clerks, 

296  acting  clerks,  114  chief  clerks  and  thirty- 
four  higher  officers,  including  fifteen  division  superintendents. 
Reckoning  an  average  of  twenty-five  pieces  to  a  package  of  let- 
ters and  fifty-two  pieces  of  second,  third,  and  fourth,  exclusive 
of  parcels,  there  were  5.212,698,814  pieces  of  second,  third, 
and  fourth-class  mail  distributed  and  redistributed,  and  8,- 
644,285,506  pieces  of  the  first  class.  Counting  the  registered 
mail  handled,  there  was  a  grand  total  of  13,856,405,564  dis- 
tributed and  redistributed  during  the  year,  and  this  distribution 
was  performed  on  moving  trains  99.98%  correctly. 

The  largest  item  of  expense  in  this  service  is  the  cost  of 
transportation.  The  matter  of  railway  mail  pay  to  the  railroad 
companies  is  very  difficult  to  adjust  equitably.  The  amount 
paid  each  road  for  carrying  the  mail  is  determined  by  a  pound 
and  by  a  space  rate.  The  amount  in  weight  is  determined  by 
weighing  all  the  mail  on  each  route  for  a  period  of  105  days 
once  in  four  years.  The  United  States  is  divided  into  four 
sections  for  this  purpose,  consequently  this  quadrennial  weigh- 
ing is  in  operation  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  four  sections  all 
of  the  time.     The  space  rate  is  fixed  on  the  amount  of  floor 


70  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

space  used  in  distributing  mail  in  the  cars.  An  effort  is  be- 
ing made  to  have  the  pay  to  railroads  based  solely  on  a  space 
rate.  A  provision  for  that  purpose  was  included  in  the  Post 
Office  Appropriation  Bill  for  the  year  1916,  but  owing  to  the 
strong  railroad  lobby  against  the  change,  and  to  the  fact  that 
Congress  was  so  occupied  with  other  more  or  less  important 
affairs,  the  bill  was  not  enacted.  In  fact,  adjournment  time  came 
without  any  appropriation  for  the  Post  Office  Department,  and 
Congress  took  a  few  minutes  and  re-enacted  the  preceding 
year's  appropriation  law. 

Traveling  post  offices  are  in  operation  in  914  full  cars  and 
3,040  apartment  cars.  There  are  also  held  in  reserve  494  full 
cars  and  1,429  apartment  cars.  Of  the  full  cars,  847  are  all 
steel ;  of  the  4,469  apartment  cars,  765  are  all  steel,  464  have 
steel  underframes,  and  1,189  are  steel-reinforced. 

The  displacement  of  wooden  cars  by  steel  ones  has  greatly 
increased  the  safety  of  the  clerks  within.  During  the  fiscal 
year  1915,  four  clerks  were  killed.  One  of  these  was  instantly 
killed  in  a  collision,  two  fell  from  the  doors  of  their  cars,  and 
one  fell  from  the  rear  end  of  the  train.  Delivering  mail  from 
a  swiftly  moving  train  is  very  dangerous  work,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  some  kind  of  automatic  device  for  delivering  and  re- 
ceiving mail  will  be  perfected  that  will  lessen  the  danger. 
Numerous  devices  have  been  submitted  to  the  department,  but 
none  have  proved  to  be  a  practical  improvement  over  the 
standard  crane  and  catcher. 

In  telling  the  story  of  the  mail  in  the  past  and  present,  it 
is  but  natural  for  one  to  endeavor  to  look  a  little  way,  at  least, 
into  its  future.  Suggestions  of  reforms,  improvements,  and 
other  changes  are  frequent.  In  fact,  there  are  often  more  than 
suggestions  of  this  kind,  for  nearly  every  session  of  Congress 
finds  a  score  of  postal  bills  introduced,  ranging  all  the  way  from 
measures  for  discontinuing  the  civil  service,  to  attempts  to 
secure  one-cent-per-ounce  postage.  A  one-cent  postage  rate 
might  seem  to  be  a  progressive  innovation,  but  there  seems 
to  be  little  or  no  warrant  for  the  movement  as  yet.  The  two- 
cent  rate  works  no  hardship,  and  there  is  no  popular  demand 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  71 

for  the  reduction.  The  demand  seems  rather  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  highest  possible  standard  of  efficiency  at  the 
present  rate  of  postage,  and  any  reduction  of  postage  rates 
would  probably  result  in  the  adoption  of  further  economy 
measures  in  the  railway  mail  service. 

Most  measures  for  postal  reform  are  inspired  by  a  deficit 
in  the  Post  Office  Department,  and  here  there  is  ample  and 
legitimate  room  for  reform.  There  are  three  places  in  particu- 
lar where  great  economies  could  be  effected.  The  first  is  the 
repeal  of  the  permit  to  publishers  for  free  postage  on  their 
papers  within  the  county  where  they  are  published.  There  is 
no  reason  for  free  county  matter,  and  no  excuse  sufficient  to 
justify  the  law,  and  it  should  be  repealed.  The  second  relates  to 
the  franking  privilege  which   is    extended    to 

Kerorm  members  of  Congress,  and  to  various  govern- 

Measures 

ment  officials.     It  would  not  be  necessary  to 

require  the  various  other  departmental  officials  to  pay  postage 
on  their  official  business,  but  there  should  be  a  method  of  ac- 
counting the  free  postage  to  the  departments  that  use  it,  rather 
that  counting  it  all  as  a  deficit  of  the  Post  Office  Department. 
Congressmen  also  should  be  more  conscientious  in  the  matter 
of  the  use  of  the  Record  as  a  medium  for  circulating  speeches, 
that  in  fact  have  no  connection  with  the  proceedings  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  third  great  saving  could  be  made  from  the  salaries  of 
postmasters  of  the  first  and  second  class.  These  political  post- 
masters have  no  economic  or  industrial  function  commensurate 
with  the  salaries  they  draw.  In  fact  most  of  them  are  pure, 
political  parasites  on  the  otherwise  sound  body  of  postal  em- 
ployees. Third  and  fourth  offices  are  now  under  the  classified 
civil  service,  but  all  of  the  first  and  most  of  the  second  are 
reserved  as  political  rewards  for  the  henchmen  of  party  lead- 
ers. A  few  Presidents  and  several  Postmasters-General  have 
recommended  the  placing  of  all  postmasters  in  the  civil  serv- 
ice, and  that  reform  will  probably  be  accomplished  sometime. 

The  political  postmaster  occupies  an  unique  position.  He 
gets  appointed,  not  for  his  knowledge  of  postal  affairs,  for  he 


72  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

usually  has  none,  but  for  political  reasons.  Upon  the  change 
of  administration  in  politics  he  loses  his  position,  and  the  plum 
is  given  to  another.  The  postoffice  is  so  well  organized  and 
federalized  that  there  is  practically  nothing  for  the  postmaster 
to  do  but  to  have  his  name  used  when  federal  orders  are  re- 
ceived and  posted  for  local  use.  The  assistant  postmaster  and 
division  superintendents  interpret  these  regulations  and  ad- 
minister them  locally.  These  men  being  more  or  less  perma- 
nent are  the  real  head  of  the  office,  but  the  postmaster  draws 
the  large  salary. 

Congress  would  doubtless  enact  a  measure,  classifying  poli- 
tical postmasters,  if  the  matter  were  presented  in  its  true  light. 
A  congressman  is  supposed  to  receive  political  support  by 
post  office  appointments,  but  the  reverse  is  true,  because  for 
each  voter  pleased  with  an  appointment  there  are  three  dis- 
pleased. A  few  years  ago  a  representative,  whose  name  is  at- 
tached to  some  important  federal  laws,  was  defeated  in  his 
district  solely  by  enemies  made  in  recommending  appointees  to 
post  offices.  There  are  doubtless  other  cases  of  a  similar  na- 
ture. At  any  rate,  appointing  postmasters  is  poor  politics 
as  well  as  poor  mail  service,  and  Congress  some  day  will  realize 
the  fact,  and  rid  itself  of  post  office  politics.  The  office  of 
postmaster  should  be  filled  by  examinations  similar  to  the  ones 
taken  by  inspectors.  Then  the  salary  would  be  about  the  same 
as  is  now  paid  the  assistant,  and  almost  all  the  total  salaries 
of  all  the  first  and  second  class  postmasters  in  the  United 
States  could  be  saved. 

These  proposed  economy  measures  are  only  indirectly  re- 
lated to  the  Railway  Mail  Service.  Ample  provision  has  always 
been  made  for  it.  In  fact,  it  has  been  called  the  pet  service 
of  Congress,  because  that  body  has  recognized  the  danger 
and  complexity  of  its  work.  Congress  was  not  to  blame  when 
administration  officials  demoralized  the  service  in  order  to  turn 
back  into  the  treasury  a  part  of  the  appropria- 
ravored  Lrovt.  ^Qn  ^  jia(j  ma(je  for  t]le  service.  There  is  urg- 
ent need  of  only  one  measure  for  postal  clerks, 
a  satisfactory   system   of  retirement,   and  that  will   probably 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE 


73 


be  worked  out  in  the  near  future.  Many  clerks  have  grown 
old,  giving  the  best  of  their  lives  to  the  dangerous  and  energy- 
consuming  work.  They  should  retire  from  the  road,  but  under 
the  present  law  they  cannot  afford  to  do  so.  Congress  is  work- 
ing on  several  good  retirement  measures,  and  doubtless  will 
soon  enact  suitable  legislation. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  that  within  the  life  of  one  man 
such  progress  could  be  made  in  the  transmission  of  intelli- 
gence, and  that  the  institution  for  the  transportation  and  dis- 
tribution of  letters,  papers,  and  parcels  should  be  so  extensive 


Los  Angeles  &  San  Bernardino   Kite  Railway  Post  Office — Near  Azuza, 

California. 


and  complex.  The  work  of  the  mail  clerks  is  as  extended  as 
the  country  is  broad.  Great  mail  trains  link  the  principal  cities, 
and  branch  lines  ramify  the  country.  Between  the  populous 
New  England  cities,  across  the  rich  farming  states,  over  the 
summits  of  the  Rockies,  through  semi-tropical  groves,  mighty 
forests,  picturesque  canyons  and  valleys,  weaving  a  net  of  news 
and  service  over  the  richest  and  best  empire  in  the  world, 
speeds  the  traveling  post  office  inscribed  in  simple  lettering, 

"UNITED  STATES  MAIL,  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE." 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


HISTORY  AND  INCIDENTS 

OF 

THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE 


PART  II 

INCIDENTS 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 
PART  II 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY   MAIL  SERVICE. 

My  First  Run. 
The  inspiration  that  inveigled  me  into  the  railway  mail 
service  was  gained  in  the  early  '80's.  At  that  time  I  was  a 
"cub"  compositor  on  the  News,  a  weekly  paper  published 
by  my  father  at  Murray,  Clark  County,  on  the  main  line  of 
the  Great  "Q."  Railroad.  The  "O."  was  the  first  road  to  in- 
augurate special  fast  mail  service  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
for  a  long  time  its  pure  white-and-gold  trains,  that  covered 
the  distance  between  Chicago  and  Omaha  in  fifteen  hours. 
were  a  delight  and  wonder  to  the  people  along  the  route.  Al- 
though the  same  distance  is  now  covered  in  ten  hours  by  both 
"Q."  and  Northwestern  trains,  it  is  doubtful  if  they  attract 
a  tithe  of  the  public  attention  that  the  alabaster  original  did 
in  its  palmy  days. 

In  October,  1889,  I  received  my  first  commission,  and  a 
few  days  later  boarded  the  fast  mail  at  Burlington  with  the 
spirits  and  expectations  of  a  holiday  excursionist.  My  ward- 
robe was  innocent  of  such  vulgar  accessories  as  blouse  and 
overalls,  and  there  was  a  huge  lump  of  egotism  under  my 
bright  uniform  cap — which  latter  I  had  taken  especial  pains 
to  secure.  That  lump  was  displaced  by  a  booming  headache 
in  an  hour  or  so,  and  I  fear  that  I  spent  more  time  leaning 
over  the  door-sills,  marring  the  beauty  of  those  pretty  cars, 
than  I  did  in  servicje  to  my  country. 

My  first  duty  was  to  take  into  the  car  a  ton  or  two  of  Kan- 
sas paper  mail.  Many  of  those  sacks  weighed  close  to  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  I  had  less  than  five  minutes  in  which 
to  do  the  work.     But  I  did  it  somehow,  though  every  nerve 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  77 

was  quivering  and  my  breath  seemed  forever  gone.  Just  as 
I  finished,  an  invitation  was  extended  to  me  to  report  for  duty 
in  another  car.  I  accepted  with  a  nod,  for  it  takes  breath  to 
talk.  "Here,  feller,"  said  a  superior  clerk;  "sort  this  mail  into 
station  order."  I  didn't  know  the  order  of  stations,  but  be- 
lieving that  hesitancy  would  be  punished  as  mutiny,  I  took 
on  a  knowing,  servile  smile  and  tackled  those  six  huge  stalls 
of  heavy  mail  sacks.  I  worked  desperately  until  a  lurch  of 
the  car  threw  me  off  my  feet,  and  an  enormous  sack  pinned 
me  down.  I  think  I  should  be  there  yet,  but  for  the  timely 
assistance  of  the  aforesaid  superior,  now  thoroughly  disgusted 
"Guess  embroidery  work  'ud  suit  you  better'n  this,"  he  con- 
fided. But  he  turned  in  and  helped,  for  we  were  approaching 
Mt.  Pleasant,  and  there  were  yet  scores  of  sacks  to  be  sorted. 
These  preliminaries  finished,  I  was  ushered  back  into  the  sec- 
ond car,  where  my  patriotism  was  put  to  the  test  of  dragging 
that  Kansas  mail  to  the  opposite  end,  lifting  it  to  the  tables, 
handling  it  piece  by  piece  and  "setting  it  up"  (facing  addresses 
one  way)  for  the  convenience  of  the  distributor.  Before  we 
reached  Ottumwa,  I  was  disgusted  with  the  whole  business. 
The  glamour  and  glory  of  my  dreams  had  departed  in  company 
with  the  spotlessness  of  my  cuffs  and  shirt  bosom.  I  was 
dizzy  and  faint;  the  cars  were  dark  with  smoke  and  dust,  and 
the  whole  scene  inside  seemed  an  endless  tangle  of  pouches, 
sacks,  and  pigeonholes,  presided  over  by  a  lot  of  perspiring 
demons,  whose  flying  hands  kept  the  air  alive  with  packages 
and  bundles,  the  while  mumbling  a  jargon,  probably  concern- 
ing routes  and  connections,  but  which  was  all  Fiji  to  me. 
Other  demons  rushed  up  and  down  the  aisles,  dragging  cum- 
bersome pouches  behind  them,  which  anon  they  hurled  from 
the  train  as  though  by  magic,  and  snatched  others  from  the 
winds  without.  The  noise  was  deafening,  a  myriad  switches 
crashed  alarmingly  beneath  the  wheels,  passing  trains  on  the 
other  tracks  kept  me  in  a  state  of  panic,  so  sudden  and  omi- 
nous were  their  approach.  The  roll  of  the  train,  as  it  rounded 
sharp  curves,  taxed  my  strength  and  levied  toll  upon  the  break- 
fast I  had  eaten  in  such  repose  and  keen  anticipation. 


78  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Altogether  it  was  a  disheartening  experience.  Oh,  it  was 
a  rude  awakening.  There  was  so  much  else  to  do  besides  kick- 
ing off  an  occasional  pouch  and  killing  off  the  ladies  of  the  vil- 
lages. Why,  I  hadn't  killed  even  one  as  yet ;  hadn't  even  seen 
one.  Moreover,  I  had  begun  vaguely  to  realize  that  the  other 
fellows  seldom  tarried  at  the  doors  longer  than  was  required 
to  take  in  a  lung  full  of  air,  and  that  the  posing  I  had  doted 
on  was  merely  a  rational  position  which  they  assumed  to  keep 
themselves  from  going  out  with  the  mail  bags,  and  to  insure 
the  taking  of  complete  anatomies  back  to  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren. At  Chariton  we  had  twenty  minutes  for  dinner.  I  didn't 
eat.  I  wasn't  hungry.  I  had  lots  of  food  for  thought,  and 
while  the  others  dined,  I  mentally  masticated  the  impulse  to 
resign  instanter.  But  the  shades  of  plucky  ancestry  seemed 
to  point  deprecatingly  at  me,  and  the  idea  was  abandoned. 
The  next  hour  dragged,  naturally,  but  at  length  we  approached 
Murray,  the  "east  switch"  was  passed,  and,  having  begged 
the  boom  of  a  moment's  respite,  I  drew  myself  together, 
opened  a  door  and  prepared  to  receive  the  homage  of  a  con- 
queror. Unlike  your  true  hero,  I  couldn't  resist  peering  ahead 
of  the  train  to  catch  an  early  glimpse  of  the  crowd.  Wonder 
of  wonders !  I  couldn't  see  a  soul.  But  the  smoke  was  bad 
that  moment,  and  so  presently  I  peered  again.  No,  my  per- 
spective didn't  include  a  single  human  being; — yes,  there  was 
a  boy,  and  as  we  approached,  I  discovered  it  was  my  brother. 
He  cheered  me  loyally,  and  over  in  the  "News"  office  door 
my  father  gave  a  sort  of  military  salute,  and  the  ovation  was 
at  an  end.  I  had  tears,  and  I  was  prepared  to  shed  them,  but 
I  didn't;  I  just  sank  upon  those  detested  sacks,  feeling  that 
all,  indeed,  was  vanity.  I  thought  my  cup  of  woe  was  full, 
but  drops  of  grief,  that  caused  it  to  overflow  like  a  generous 
"stein,"  were  added  later  on.  By  the  ukase  of  the  clerk-in- 
chief,  a  new  field  of  endeavor  was  found  for  me  at  the  catchers. 
I  was  appalled.  The  operation  of  catching  had  once  seemed 
simple,  but  now,  in  my  distraction,  I  mentally  compared  it 
with  broncho-breaking  or  powder  making.  I  urged  my  inex- 
perience, told  them  I  was  ill  and  so  forth,  all  to  no  purpose. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  79 

"Got  to  learn — as  well  now  as  any  time,"  they  replied.  "Get 
ready.  When  she  whistles  spot  the  crane.  Just  before  you 
reach  it.  throw  out  your  pouch  hard,  and  raise  the  catcher; 
the  rest'll  come  to  you." 

Pretty  soon  "she"  whistled.  I  glanced  ahead,  but  could 
not  "spot"  the  crane.  There  were  switch  targets,  telegraph 
poles  and  semaphores  in  spindling  abundance,  but  the  crane 
was  not  apparent.  Still,  I  knew  it  must  be  there  somewhere, 
and  so  I  decided  to  raise  the  catcher  in  good  time.  I  did  so 
and  waited  for  the  "rest"  to  come.  It  came  even  sooner  than 
I  had  expected.  It  came  with  such  violence  that  the  catcher 
was  torn  from  my  grasp,  wrenched  from  its  own  sockets,  and 
disappeared  entirely,  leaving  me  paralyzed  and  dumb.  I  had 
caught  a  semaphore  post  instead  of  a  mail  pouch.  The  crash 
attracted  the  attention  of  my  fellows,  and  they  grasped  the 
situation  instantly.  "Throw  it  out,"  they  yelled,  meaning  my 
own  pouch,  which  I  had  stupidly  clung  to.  I  obeyed  and  a 
tremendous  clatter  followed  its  exit.  I  looked  back  and  just 
made  out  that  my  pouch  had  landed  in  the  little  station's  bay 
window.  In  mute  horror,  I  turned  to  receive  the  sentence 
of  the  clerk-in-charge.  I  thought  perhaps  he  would  kick  me 
off  the  train.  I  was  sure  he  would  revile  me  and  report  me 
to  headquarters  as  totally  incompetent,  and  I  should  be  ig- 
nominiously  discharged.  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  senses 
when  I  saw  him  double  over  a  pouch  rack,  howling  with 
amusement,  while  the  other  clerks  were  making  pandemonium 
in  their  merriment. 

It  was  several  days  before  they  could  look  at  me  without 
whooping,  and  longer  before  I  could  be  induced  to  touch  one  of 
those  pesky  catchers. 

E.  M.  MARTINDALE. 


80  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Tom,  The  Sub. 

"YOU  are  a  sub;  name,  please?" 

Tom,  with  a  substitute  appointment  to  the  Railway  Mail 
Service  in  his  pocket,  stood  nervously  fingering  his  hat  in  the 
presence  of  the  big  man  at  the  desk.  He  had  just  entered  the 
office  of  the  chief  clerk  of  the  railway  mail  service,  and  so. 
far  had  not  spoken  a  word.  How  strange  the  big  man  should 
know  his  business! 

"You  will  make  out  an  application  for  a  bond,  then  correct 
this  scheme,  which  will  be  yours.  Make  it  exactly  correspond 
in  every  detail  with  the  office-scheme.  You  understand  you 
will  learn  your  distribution  from  this  scheme,  so  that  there 
must  be  no  mistakes." 

"And,"  he  added,  wheeling  back  to  his  desk,  preparatory 
to  resuming  his  interrupted  task,  "You  will  report  at  the  trans- 
fer office  tomorrow  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  to  take  a  run  out 
on  No.  6." 

The  transfer  office  was  located  in  the  basement  of  the  Union 
Depot.  It  was  here  that  delayed  or  "stuck"  mail  was  worked 
and  put  on  proper  dispatch.  It  was  here,  also,  that  clerks 
collected  to  sign  the  book  of  arrival  and  departure  and  to 
await  their  trains.  A  number  of  men  were  seated  on  a  bench 
along  the  wall  opposite  to  the  entrance,  each  with  a  grip  be- 
fore him,  variously  employed  in  reading  papers,  or  in  con- 
versing with  one  another  in  low  tones.  Tom  paused  as  he 
entered  the  door  to  contemplate  them.  This  was  evidently 
the  group  that  made  up  the  crew  he  was  to  go  out  with.  What 
clean,  thoughtful-looking  men  they  were.  They  all  had  the 
looks  of  students,  and  each  one  of  them,  he  thought,  must  be 
a  walking  encyclopedia  of  information.  But,  how  strange  it 
was,  that  none  of  them  was  employing  his  time  looking  over 
maps  and  schedules!  Instead,  everything  else  seemed  to  de- 
mand interest  more  than  mail  service.  He  accordingly  sur- 
mised they  must  all  be  "graduated." 

They  nodded  pleasantly  to  him  when  his  presence  was  ob- 
served, and  an  oldish  man,  with  iron-grey  hair  and  mustache, 
came  forward  and  shook  him  by  the  hand. 

"Do  you  go  out  with  us  on  No.  6?"  he  asked  pleasantly. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  81 

Tom  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"I  thought  you  were  our  new  man.  I'm  Stone,  clerk-in- 
charge.     Come,  I'll  make  you  acquainted  with  the  boys." 

All  of  them  spoke  cordially  to  him,  and  welcomed  him  into 
the  service  with  a  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand.  The  clerk-in- 
charge  was  the  only  one  past  middle  age.  The  rest  were  young 
men,  two  of  them  lads,  with  boyish  faces. 

The  clerk-in-charge  was  standing  in  the  door,  looking  out 
on  the  yard.     Suddenly  he  turned  around. 
"Six  is  in  the  yard,  boys!" 

Immediately  the  lazy  air  fell  from  each  man  like  a  cloak, 
and  every  one  grabbed  his  grip  and  started  toward  the  door 


at  a  run. 


No.  6  was  a  fast  mail  train.  Tom  followed  the  clerk-in- 
charge,  who  leaped  nimbly  into  the  car  the  moment  the  train 
came  to  a  halt,  with  an  activity  that  belied  his  years.  A  bunch 
of  well-dressed  men,  with  grips  in  their  hands,  met  them  at 
the  door.  These  men  had  worked  mail  to  this  place— the  end 
of  their  run— and  would  now  get  off  and  let  the  fresh  crew 
take  their  places. 

Tom  found  himself  in  a  strange  looking  workshop.  Racks 
hung  in  sections,  mail  bags  lined  each  side  of  the  car,  with 
an  open  space  here  and  there  for  the  stacking  of  "unworked" 
mail,  and  an  aisle  in  the  center  for  the  egress  and  regress  of 
the  clerks.  Removable  tables  were  hung  here  and  there  before 
the  racks  by  means  of  iron  bars  and  rods  screwed  into  the 
floor.  Sacks  of  mail  were  emptied  upon  these  and  distributed 
to  the  bags  in  the  racks,  and  the  boxes  that  lined  the  walls 
One  end  of  the  car  was  divided  into  stalls,  wherein  lay  immense 
stacks  of  mail,  while  the  other  end  and  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  sides  were  honey-combed  with  hundreds  of  pigeon- 
holes, for  the  distribution  or  "working"  of  letters. 

Hardly  had  he  noted  his  surroundings,  before  trucks  be^an 
to  roll  up  to  the  door  for  mail.  Then  others  came  with  moun- 
tains of  it  to  be  taken  in.  Tons  of  it  were  taken  in  in  ner- 
vous haste,  by  some  of  the  clerks,  while  it  was  stacked  and 


82  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

piled  by  others  in  every  available  nook  not  occupied  by  tables 
and  racks.  The  train  stopped  only  for  ten  minutes ;  thus  the 
cause  for  the  nervous  haste.  Presently,  the  last  truck  load 
was  in,  and  a  chaotic  sight  was  presented.  Mail  everywhere, 
under  foot  and  piled  in  miniature  mountains  in  the  aisle,  over 
which  the  clerks  had  to  scramble  as  they  rushed  here  and  there 
about  their  duties. 

Only  eight  minutes  had  elapsed,  but  a  great  amount  of 
work  had  already  been  done,  and  in  addition,  somehow  each 
clerk  had  found  time  to  snatch  off  his  clothes  and  don  a  suit 
of  overalls  and  cap  instead.  As  though  the  change  had  come 
about  through  some  mysterious  process  of  legerdemain,  each 
one  of  the  late  neatly  dressed,  studious-looking  men  was  now 
transformed  into  a  common  laborer — a  demon  of  energy — 
rushing  here  and  there,  accomplishing  unbelievable  tasks  in 
moments  of  time ;  the  minute-men  of  our  modern  civilization. 
The  world  waited  and  depended  upon  their  actions,  and  their 
time  was  measured,  not  in  hours  or  seconds,  but  by  the  turn 
of  the  wheel  underneath  the  car. 

In  the  letter-end  of  the  car,  the  clerk-in-charge  and  three 
men  threw  packages  of  letters  here  and  there,  as  though  they 
were  playing  some  kind  of  game.  The  table  bordering  the 
honey-combed  walls  was  stacked  high  with  packages  of  let- 
ters. These  were  the  "local  number  one"  letters,  and  had  to 
be  worked  immediately,  since  they  were  for  the  first  post  of- 
fices on  the  line  out  of  the  city.  Directly  one  of  the  clerks 
quit  the  tossing  game,  and  began  cutting  packages  and  stick- 
ing letters  here  and  there  into  the  pigeonholes  with  remark- 
able rapidity. 

At  every  turn  Tom  was  confronted  with  a  new  phase  of 
the  complicated  game.  The  clerks  working  the  letter-case 
knew,  without  looking,  just  what  hole  to  put  each  letter  in, 
after  giving  the  address  the  barest  scrutiny.  How  long  would 
it  take  him  to  learn  the  location  of  these  myriads  of  holes, 
and  what  each  stood  for?  wondered  Tom.  Behind  him  the 
puzzle  was  duplicated.  Those  hundreds  of  bags,  hanging  in 
racks  with  mouths  open,  and  the  boxes  that  lined  the  walls 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  .83 

above  them  were  receptacles  for  mail,  but,  before  a  person 
could  throw  into  them,  he  had  to  know  just  what  office  or 
connecting  train  each  represented. 

The  train  had  now  started,  and  the  clerk-in-charge  looked 
toward  him  and  backoned  frantically : 

"Go  back  there  and  help  the  local  paper  man !"  he  bawled. 

The  roar  of  the  wheels  under  the  car  made  it  necessary  for 
him  to  bawl  to  be  heard.  Anyhow,  he  spoke  authoritatively 
and  sharply,  altogether  differently  from  the  mild  talking  man 
of  a  few  minutes  before. 

The  local  paper  man's  task  was  similar  to  that  of  the  local 
letter  man.  He  worked  the  papers  that  went  to  the  offices 
along  the  line.  Fifty  or  sixty  sacks  of  unworked  papers  lay 
near  his  table,  separated  into  two  piles,  the  pile  nearest  the 
table  being  "No  l's,"  containing  the  near  offices,  and  the  other 
pile  being  "No.  2's."  Tom's  job  was  to  throw  sacks  up  on 
the  table,  open  them,  pour  out  their  contents,  and  "set  up" 
papers ;  that  is,  arrange  them  so  that  the  address  of  each  should 
be  uniform  and  apparent  at  a  glance.  But,  for  the  life  of  him, 
he  could  not  keep  ahead  of  the  clerk,  who  threw  them  into  the 
sacks  here  and  there,  and  boxes  overhead  with  unerring  aim. 
The  clerk  never  waited  on  him,  however.  When  he  caught 
up  with  him,  he  would  snatch  a  handful  of  "unset-up"  papers 
and  work  them  while  Tom  got  others  arranged  on  the  table. 
Then  he  would  swoop  down  upon  them,  and  in  a  twinkling 
they  would  be  gone. 

Ten  minutes  passed.  The  train  was  puffing  and  howling 
along.  Momentarily,  each  of  the  two  local  clerks  was  listen- 
ing with  strained  ears  to  the  whistle  for  Craneville,  the  first 
"supply."  Unless  all  the  No.  l's  were  worked  before  ar- 
rival, they  were  "stuck ;"  the  mail  would  be  carried  by. 
Twenty-five  sacks  had  been  worked,  and  the  last  one  was  on 
the  table  when  the  warning  whistle  sounded.  In  a  jiffy,  the 
letter  man  had  his  letters  locked  in  a  catcher-pouch,  and  was 
standing  in  the  door  testing  the  catcher. 

"Papers !"  he  yelled. 


84  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Working  as  though  his  very  soul's  salvation  depended  on 
it,  the  paper  man  continued  to  throw  mail,  and  all  about  him, 
and  over  him  flew  papers  like  so  many  sparrows  in  flight. 

"Hurry!"  vociferated  the  man  at  the  door. 

A  moment  later  the  last  paper  flew  to  its  abiding  place, 
and  the  paper  man  leaped  over  a  rack  and  snatched  a  sack 
loose  from  its  hooks  and  laced  it  up  as  he  ran  toward  the  door. 
At  that  instant,  the  other  clerk  throw  out  his  pouch  and  raised 
the  catcher,  and  snatched  a  pouch  off  the  crane.  Almost  sim- 
ultaneously, the  paper  man  threw  out  his  sack,  and  it  hit  the 
ground  ten  feet    below  the  crane. 

"By  jove!"  he  muttered,  "I  came  very  nearly  carrying  by 
a  daily  paper." 

On,  on  the  train  rumbled  through  space  that  night,  stopping 
at  but  few  places,  where  great  quantities  of  mail  were  put  off 
and  other  great  quantities  taken  on.  It  seemed  to  Tom  that 
everything  was  systematically  arranged  so  that  one  fight  ended 
just  the  moment  another  began,  for  at  all  the  junctions  prac- 
tically the  same  experience  followed.  Nerve  and  fiber  were 
strained  to  the  highest  tension,  and  defeat  menaced  them  at 
every  turn.  But,  in  the  end,  they  would  always  win  by  a  hair's 
breadth,  and  all  mail  would  go  safely  to  its  destination. 

Under  the  gas-light  within,  the  men  were  dirty  and  all 
energy;  outside,  the  moon  shone  down  peacefully  upon  sleep- 
ing farmhouses  and  quiet  villages  through  which  they  roared 
and  rumbled.  That  these  people  might  get  all  the  benefits 
of  modern  civilization,  and  bless  its  name,  these  men  toiled  on 
through  the  midnight  hour  and  into  the  wee  sma'  hours. 
On  the  morrow,  the  villagers  would  awake,  refreshed  from 
slumber,  and  find  awaiting  them,  the  news  of  the  world  and 
letters  from  distant  loved  ones.  Magazines,  books,  and  treat- 
ises on  science  would  be  at  hand,  as  though  by  magical 
process. 

That  these  things  may  come  about,  every  day  and  night 
of  the  nation's  history,  men  fight  similar  battles  all  over  the 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  85 

land,  and  fight  them  as  patriotically  and  bravely  as  any  soldier 
on  the  battlefield. 

Morning  came,  and  their  destination  was  being  neared.  By 
degrees,  order  had  begun  to  appear  out  of  chaos.  The  paper- 
mail  was  all  worked  out,  sacks  had  been  taken  down  and 
stacked,  and  others  hung  in  their  places.  All  the  letters  had 
been  taken  out  of  the  case  and  tied  in  neat  bundles.  Five 
miles  from  the  city,  everybody  was  finished  except  the  local 
letter  man,  who  had  one  more  supply  to  make,  after  which  he 
should  have  to  tie  out  his  "closing-out"  packages  and  lock  out 
his  pouches.  Surely  he  would  have  to  go  into  town  dirty, 
with  his  overalls  on,  was  Tom's  thought  of  the  matter.  Every- 
body else  was  hurriedly  washing  and  changing  clothes.  Soon 
they  were  all  standing  in  a  bunch  at  the  door  with  grips  at 
hand,  ready  to  get  out  of  the  car.  This  end  of  the  run  was 
where  their  homes  were,  and  where  they  spent  their  long 
lay-offs.  The  clerk-in-charge  was  anxious  to  get  home  to  wife 
and  babies,  and  so  were  other  members  of  the  crew,  except 
two  boyish-faced  lads.  They  leaned  out  of  the  car  door  across 
the  catcher-rod,  and  let  the  breeze  play  through  their  crisp 
locks  as  they  whistled  and  made  observations  on  the  passing 
scenes.  In  a  few  minutes,  from  a  bunch  of  working  demons, 
they  had  all  changed  back  to  neatly  dressed  gentlemen,  quiet 
and  thoughtful. 

Two  miles  more  to  go.  The  whistle  blew,  and  one  of  the 
younger  men  took  the  pouch  from  the  letter  man's  hands 
and  made  the  exchange  for  him  on  the  fly.  Quickly  the  new 
pouch  was  opened,  the  letters  extracted  therefrom,  and  as 
quickly  worked  into  the  case.  Then  in  a  half  minute,  the 
last  package  of  letters  in  the  case  was  tied  out  and  locked  in 
a  pouch.  The  local  letter  man  started  down  the  aisle  toward 
the  clothes-closet,  removing  his  dirty  trousers  as  he  went. 
And  two  minutes  later  when  the  train  pulled  into  the  depot, 
he  joined  the  bunch  at  the  door  as  clean  as  any,  with  an  entire 
change  of  clothes  on  and  grip  in  hand. 

ROBT.  PRATHER. 


86  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Turner's  Yarns. 
That  man,  Jones,  used  to  be  a  practical  joker,  and  I  guess 
he  hasn't  got  entirely  over  it  yet.  I  remember  once  that  I 
got  off  at  Ames  to  pick  up  the  "go-back"  sacks— empties,  and 
those  which  contained  mail,  which  had  been  carried  past  its 
station.  Our  train  passed  Jones'  train  at  Ames,  and  here  it 
was  that  the  exchange  was  made.  We  were  in  a  hurry,  and 
I  got  off  to  pick  up  the  sacks.  They  were  unusually  heavy, 
and  I  called  Denison  to  my  assistance,  and  we  managed  to 
get  them  on.  As  we  finished  the  job,  I  looked  over  toward 
Jones'  train,  which  was  just  going  'round  the  curve,  and  there 
he  stood  shouting  and  laughing :  "I  found  one  of  the  sacks  half 
full  of  hard  coal!" 

But  I  got  even  with  him  by  smearing  the  mouths  of  his 
mail  sacks  with  cayenne  pepper,  so  that  the  men  couldn't  talk 
without  coughing.  Sutton,  who  was  Jones'  running  mate, 
was  a  great  talker,  and,  of  course,  Jones  had  to  respond  to  his 
remarks.  The  next  day  I  got  a  note  from  Jones,  which,  leav- 
ing out  a  few  adjectives,  reads  as  follows: 

"You  are  a  fool.  There  is'  an  institution  for  the  feeble- 
minded in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  Can't  you  get  an 
appointment?" 

But  that  wasn't  the  worst  that  ever  happened.  One  day 
I  got  a  slip  which  read :  "Why  in  h don't  you  spell  Ver- 
milion right?  P.  M."  I  knew  that  I  always  spelled  the  name 
of  that  town  correctly,  and  the  accusation  made  me  a  little 
warm.  So  I  lost  no  time  in  writing  on  the  back  of  the  slip, 
a  few  words  concerning  the  matter  which,  on  second  and  third 
thought,  I  would  have  refrained  from  writing.  But  I  did  it 
just  the  same,  and  sent  it  to  the  postmaster  of  Vermilion,  to 
let  him  know  that  I  knew  a  thing  or  two  as  well  as  he  did.  A 
few  days  afterward  I  got  a  letter  from  headquarters  in  Chi- 
cago which  ordered  me  to  report  to  the  superintendent  as  soon 
as  I  could  get  there.  I  complied  with  the  order  and  went  im- 
mediately to  the  office  of  Superintendent  White,  who  handed 
me  the  identical  slip  which  accused  me  of  being  unable  to  spell 
Vermilion. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  87 

'Did  you  write  that?"  asked  the  superintendent,  turning 
the  slip  over. 

"I  did,"  I  answered,  and  I  wasn't  ashamed  of  it,  even  if  it 
was  a  little  impolite  in  its  phraseology,  as  I  felt  I  had  been 
wronged.    "And  I  feel  as  though  I  was  justified  in  doing  so." 

"But,  are  you  aware  of  the  fact,  Mr.  Turner,  that  the  post- 
master at  Vermilion  is  a  woman,  and — ?" 

"No,  I— I—" 

"And  that  you  have  violated  the  rules  by — " 

"Yes,  sir,  I— think— I—" 

And  then  I  think  I  collapsed.  I  got  out  of  it,  though,  and 
soon  afterward  I  met  Jones.  "What  were  you  doing  in  Chi- 
cago the  other  day?"  he  asked.  "Somebody  played  a  mean 
trick  on  me,  Jones,"  I  said,  "and  I  had  to  go  in  and  explain 
matters."  "Say,"  said  Jones,  "would  you  believe  me  if  I  should 
tell  you  that  I  did  it?" 


Case  of  Absent-Mindedness. 

A  fellow  by  the  name  of  Gallup  was  running  with  me  once, 
and  it  happened  that  he  forgot  to  bring  along  his  working- 
shoes;  we  always  had  two  pairs,  one  for  best  and  one  pair  to 
work  in.  So  I  offered  to  let  him  wear  my  best  ones,  which 
were  easier  on  his  feet  than  the  others.  When  we  reached 
the  place  where  he  got  his  own  property,  he  took  his  foot- 
wear aboard,  and  proceeded  to  take  off  my  shoes  which  I  had 
loaned  him.  The  first  one  he  took  off,  he  threw  out  the  door 
while  the  train  was  going  at  full  speed.  Then  he  took  off  the 
other  and  sent  it  by  the  same  route.  I  figured  that  if  he  was 
trying  to  play  a  joke  on  me,  he  could  have  a  chance  to  pay 
for  a  brand  new  pair,  and  so  I  asked  him  what  he  had  done 
with  my  shoes.  "Why,"  he  said,  "they  must  be  here  some- 
where. I  just  took  them  off,"  and  he  looked  about  the  floor. 
"Now,  look  here,"  I  said,  "I  saw  you  deliberately  throw  them 
out  the  door,  and  they  are  back  there  five  miles."  He  wouldn't 
believe  it,  and  I  had  to  cross  my  heart  and  hope  to  die  if  I 
didn't  see  him  do  it.    It  was  a  clear  case  of  absent-mindedness, 


88  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

which  was  never  displayed  in  the  man's  work  with  the  mails. 
I  afterwards  learned  that  he  was  thinking  about  the  business 
he  intended  to  engage  in  after  leaving  the  service.  He  failed 
in  business  several  times,  always  succeeding,  though,  in  being 
reinstated  in  the  service. 


A  Close  Call. 

One  day  we  were  coming  down  a  steep  grade,  when  my 
companion,  a  man  named  Foster,  stuck  his  head  out  the  door 
and  saw  a  gravel  train  rapidly  approaching  us.  He  tried  to 
jump  out,  but  I  held  him  and  shut  the  door.  The  danger  sig- 
nal was  sounded,  and  we  were  sure  for  a  moment  that  a  bad 
collision  was  unavoidable.  But  the  locomotives  came  together 
so  that  they  barely  touched,  without  doing  damage  to  any- 
thing or  anyone.  The  train  dispatcher,  though,  who  was  to 
blame  for  the  affair,  attempted  suicide,  and  later  went  crazy; 
so  great  was  the  strain  on  his  mind  when  he  found,  too  late, 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake.  Directly  afterward,  four  men 
were  permanently  placed  in  charge  of  the  work  which  this 
one  man  had  been  obliged  to  perform. 

JOHN  B.  TURNER. 


Another  First  Trip. 

About  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago,  I  was  assigned  as  a 
substitute  on  the  Momence  &  Terra  Haute  R.  P.  O.,  a  one-man 
run.  I  shall  never  forget  my  first  round-trip.  It  was  awful !  I 
could  handle  the  local  all  right,  but  when  the  mail  commenced 
to  pile  up,  I  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it.  I  didn't  know 
one  route  from  another,  and  I  imagined  that  if  I  missent  a 
letter— the  "pen"  for  me.  So  when  I  got  down  to  Terra  Haute, 
I  massed  the  whole  pile  on  them.     I  received  a  note  from  the 

clerk  in  the  Terra  Haute  post  office,  asking  me  why  in  h 

I  didn't  at  least  take  out  Chicago  city  mail. 

When  I  got  over  to  the  room  that  evening,  I  immediately 
wrote  my  chief  clerk  to,  for  God's  sake,  send  some  one  down, 
for  I  could  not  handle  the  run.     On  my  return  trip,  instead 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  89 

\ 

of  getting  off  at  Momence,  I  went  through  to  Chicago,  all  tired 
out  (not  from  work,  but  from  worry)  and  dirty.  That  eve- 
ning I  spoke  to  one  of  the  old-time  clerks,  and  told  him  my 
experience.  He  had  a  good  laugh,  which  I  did  not  at  first 
appreciate.  He  asked  me  if  I  did  not  cross  any  other  lines 
between  Momence  and  Terra  Haute.  I  told  him  there  were 
several.  He  told  me  to  take  all  the  mail  that  I  did  not  know, 
put  it  into  a  pouch,  and  fire  it  out  at  the  first  crossing  I  came 
to.  This  I  did,  and  found  that  I  had  plenty  of  time  between 
stations.  No  more  trouble  after  that.  A  sub.  on  a  one-man  run 
surely  has  my  sympathy. 

RUSSELL  R.  DANNEIL. 


She. 

(By  Dr.  Frank  Crane,  in  The  Des  Moines  Capital.) 

The  railway  train  is  not,  in  Boone  Center,  111.,  a  mere  piece 
of  machinery.  It  is  a  sort  of  person.  They  speak  of  it  as 
"She."     Her  name  is  No.  7,  or  the  5 :  20. 

Everybody  that  can  spare  the  time  goes  down  to  the  sta- 
tion to  see  Her  come  in.  A  crowd  of  small  boys  is  always 
there,  especially  the  Kelleys  and  Gischweins,  who  are  the  out- 
law chiefs  of  the  community.  They  wristle  and  whistle,  and 
give  lessons  to  the  more  respectable  little  boys  in  swear  words 
and  tobacco  chewing,  while  waiting  for  Her. 

Emmaline  Matthews,  Carrie  and  Mame  Cramer,  beside 
the  Tope  girls,  usually  are  on  the  platform  when  She  comes 
in.  They  lock  arms  and  stand  around  giggling,  chewing  gum, 
and  conversing  in  their  own  language.  When  She  comes  in, 
they  "josh"  the  brakeman,  Will  Davis;  the  engineer  yells  his 
badinage  at  them,  and  tickles  them  to  death.  The  traveling 
man  from  Chicago  knows  them,  and  they  walk  up  to  the  St. 
James  Hotel  together,  after  She  leaves. 

The  Mason  boys,  who  live  on  a  farm  up  Bear  Creek  way, 
are  there.  They  get  in  the  smoking  car.  They  are  going  to 
Peoria  to  buy  some  hogs,  and,  by  cricky !  they're  going  to 


90  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

have  some  fun  while  they're  there.  Each  of  them  is  smoking 
a  five-cent  cigar,  holding  it  most  of  the  time  in  the  hand,  and 
blowing  out  the  smoke  with  a  "koo-oo-oo !"  But  they  are  not 
fierce  at  all;  they  are  just  playing  criminal.  Really,  they  are 
modest,  kind-hearted,  hard-working  boys. 

The  Chicago  papers  come  in  on  this  train.  Eb  Hopkins, 
who  is  the  leading  politician,  is  present  to  get  a  first  copy  out 
of  the  roll,  to  see  what's  going  on.  Grandpa  Bliss  is  also  on 
hand  regularly;  he  takes  two  papers,  both  the  Tribune  and 
the  News;  he  is  very  deaf,  so  that  about  all  he  can  do  is  to 
read.  He  is  a  good  arguer,  however,  for  he  never  hears  what 
the  other  man  says. 

The  emperor  of  the  occasion  is  the  station  agent.  The  bur- 
den of  his  office  weighs  heavily  on  him.  He  throws  in  the  mail 
bag,  hands  the  train  order  to  the  engineer,  looks  after  the  bag- 
gage and  express,  and  answers  questions.  Everyone  is  proud 
to  know  him. 

No.  7  has  been  carefully  looked  for.  When  She  whistled, 
out  by  Downer's  Grove,  all  the  watches  came  out,  and  the  ver- 
dict was  rendered :  "Eight  minutes  late."  Rolling,  grumbling, 
hissing  and  ringing  Her  bell,  She  came  to  a  stop.  Each  per- 
son alighting  was  carefully  scrutinized.  If  his  business  was 
not  known,  it  was  soon  discovered.  Xo  man  can  stay  over 
night  in  Boone  Center  without  the  inhabitants  knowing  why. 
The  people  are  not  cold — they  are  very  sociable;  indeed,  soci- 
ally they  might  be  called  hot. 

At  last  the  conductor  looks  at  his  watch,  glances  forward 
and  back  along  the  train,  waves  his  hand  to  the  engineer, 
shouts  "All  aboard,"  and  She  begins  to  move.  The  engine 
gives  a  few  big  snorts,  the  bell  rings,  everybody  says  good-bye, 
and  away  She  goes. 

She  disappears  over  the  prairie.  The  folks  return  home. 
The  agent  goes  back  to  his  chair  at  the  telegraph  table. 

Another  heart-throb  has  pulsed  along  the  iron  artery. 

Another  epoch  has  passed  for  Boone  Center. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  91 

The  5  :20  is  gone. 

Nothing  to  do  now  until  the  7:13  tomorrow  morning. 

Wonder  if  anybody  we  know  will  come  in  on  Her? 

Let's  go  up  to  the  post  office  and  see  who  gets  letters.    Pap 
Beesley's  pension  usually  comes  in  on  this  mail. 


A  Wager. 

Bill  McGeary  and  Mike  Gaff  were  alone  in  the  car.  The 
train  stopped  at  a  small  station  and  McGeary  bought  a  setting 
of  fancy  eggs  for  which  he  paid  five  dollars. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  eggs,  Bill?"  asked 
Mike  when  he  spotted  the  recent  purchase. 

"Set  them  and  raise  fancy  chickens,"  replied  Bill. 

"I'll  bet  you  five  dollars  that  not  a  single  one  of  those  eggs 
will  hatch,"  taunted  Mike. 

Bill,  being  sure  that  he  had  made  a  good  "buy,"  took  up 
the  wager.  It  was  not  very  long  'till  Bill  went  to  the  "hay" 
for  a  rest,  while  Mike  made  the  local  exchanges.  While  Bill 
slept  and  dreamed  of  thoroughbred  chickens  that  were  to  be, 
Mike  boiled  the  setting  of  eggs.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Mike 
won  the  bet.  V.  CURTIS. 


A  Hold-Up. 

The  night  of  February  19,  1914,  was  an  ideal  one  for  train 
robbery.  It  was  dark,  and  drizzling  rain.  The  fast  Queen 
and  Crescent  Cannon  "Ball"  was  forty  minutes  late,  with  one 
of  the  best  and  swiftest  engineers  on  the  road  at  the  throttle. 
This  train  makes  only  two  stops  between  Chattanooga,  Tenn- 
essee, and  Birmingham,  Alabama,  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
miles.  Everything  was  going  merrily  as  the  great  locomotive 
shot  through  the  dense  darkness  of  night.  The  four  other 
clerks  in  the  car  were  busy  distributing  the  big-  mail,  received 
from   three    large   connections :     Cincinnati    Southern    R.    R., 


92  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Southern  from  Washington,  and  the  N.  C.  St.  L.  R.  R.  from 
the  West.  I  was  checking  up  the  registered  matter  and  ar- 
ranging it  for  delivery,  not  in  the  least  dreaming  that  a  pair 
of  evil  eyes  was  on  top  of  my  car,  watching  where  I  put  every- 
thing, with  intent  of  robbery  when  the  right  time  came. 

Just  as  the  train  swung  around  a  sharp  curve  in  a  deep  cut, 
Engineer  Murphy  felt  something  cold,  like  steel,  jab  him  in 
the  left  ear.  He  had  every  nerve  and  eye  strained  watching 
ahead,  for  he  was  now  running  over  sixty  miles  an  hour.  Mur- 
phy did  not  look  around  then,  but,  thinking  his  fireman  had 
punched  him  with  the  engine-rake,  said,  "What  do  you  mean? 
Keep  that  rake  out  of  my  ear!" 

On  finding  that  the  steel  was  pressed  tighter,  he  turned 
to  see  a  masked  man  with  a  large  Colt's  extra-long-barrel 
gun  looking  into  his  face,  and  another  man  with  one  covering 
the  fireman.  The  robber  said,  "Do  you  think  that  you  can 
do  as  I  say?"  The  engineer  said,  "I  will  try."  The  robber 
said,  "Don't  shut  her  off  yet.  I  will  tell  you  when  I  want  you 
to  stop."  After  they  had  run  about  three  miles  below  Truss- 
ville,  Alabama,  in  a  wild,  mountainous  country,  the  robber 
told  the  engineer  to  slack  her  down,  and  when  the  engine 
stopped  the  robber  ordered  the  engineer  and  fireman  off  the 
engine  and  back  toward  the  coaches.  But  as  soon  as  the  fire- 
man, a  young  man  about  twenty  years  old,  hit  the  ground, 
he  started  to  run  around  the  front  of  the  engine.  One  of  the 
robbers  ordered  him  to  stop  or  he  would  kill  him  on  the  spot, 
at  which  he  stopped  and  was  taken  back  toward  the  coaches. 

After  leaving  the  engineer  and  fireman  with  one  robber, 
the  other  two  came  into  the  mail  car.  (We  had  to  let  them  in, 
for  they  were  preparing  to  throw  sticks  of  dynamite  through 
the  windows  after  shooting  them  out.)  Two  of  the  robbers 
came  in,  ready  to  shoot  the  first  man  who  resisted.  They 
asked,  "Who  is  the  'Boss-man?'"  to  which  one  of  the  clerks, 
pointing  to  me,  said,  "There  he  is."  I  said,  "I  am  the  clerk-in- 
charge.  What  do  you  want?"  The  robber  said,  "We  want 
what  you  have  got,  but  before  we  get  it  we  Want  all  these 
other  men  to  vacate  at  once."    The  men  did  so,  with  their  hands 


INCIDENTS  OP  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  93 

up  and  guns  stuck  against  their  ribs.  The  robbers  took  them 
back  where  the  engineer  and  fireman  were  stationed,  and  about 
that  time  the  old  negro  porter  came  on  the  scene  to  see  what 
was  up,  only  to  find  a  gun  thrust  in  his  face,  and  to  be  ordered 
to  uncouple  the  mail  car  from  the  rest  of  the  train.  As  soon 
as  the  porter  uncoupled,  the  heavy  set  robber  ran  down  to 
the  engine,  climbed  up  in  the  cab,  opened  the  throttle,  and 
off  we  went;  myself,  with  two  robbers  in  the  car,  rifling  the 
sacks  of  mail,  and  one  acting  as  engineer.  It  may  be  funny 
to  some,  but  I  now  had  an  entirely  new  crew  out  and  out. 
The  new  engineer  ran  the  train  down  about  two  and  a  half 
miles  farther,  nearly  to  Irondale,  Alabama,  and  then  stopped 
and  came  back  into  the  mail  car. 

I  had  not  told  them  what  they  wanted  to  know,  and  they 

said,  "Wait  until  the  big  chief  comes  in.    He'll  cut  your  d d 

throat  if  you  do  not  tell."  I  tried  to  keep  them  off  the  regis- 
tered pouches,  and  this  big  chief  bulldozer  stabbed  me  in  the 
arm  and  kicked  me  around  and  abused  me  unmercifully,  say- 
ing that  he  intended  to  kill  me  when  they  had  got  all  they 
could.  One  of  them  said,  "By  G — d,  I  know  as  much  about 
this  business  as  you  do,"  and  proceeded  to  locate  the  registered 
pouches.  He  cut  straps  and  transferred  the  contents  to  an- 
other sack  he  had  provided  for  the  purpose.  He  also  remarked 
that  he  had  had  a  d d  long,  cold  ride,  not  to  have  got  any- 
thing. One  of  them  said,  "Get  his  d d  watch";  but  an- 
other, a  little  better  man,  said,  "Oh,  no,  don't  do  that."  When 
the  two  others  were  in  the  other  end  of  the  car,  I  asked  this 
one  if  he  had  any  manhood,  and  appreciated  my  position  to 
get  them  not  to  kill  me,  and  he  did  so.  After  they  had  rifled 
and  taken  all  they  could  see,  and  the  car  looked  as  if  a  cyclone 
had  struck  it,  they  left  the  car  and  got  on  the  engine,  after 
uncoupling  it  from  the  mail  car,  and  ran  about  three  miles  to 
where  they  had  an  automobile  waiting.  Here  they  got  off  the 
engine  without  shutting  off  the  steam,  got  into  an  automobile 
and  made  their  escape  into  Birmingham. 

As  soon  as  the  conductor  knew  what  was  up,  he  ran  back 
to  the  first  telegraph  station  and  wired  the  chief  of  police  at 


94  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

Birmingham,  and  in  twenty-five  minutes  after  the  robbers  got 
out,  two  high-speed  automobiles  came  with  a  dozen  police  and 
a  doctor.  They  passed  the  robbers  on  the  way  to  the  mail  car 
and  did  not  know  it.  It  seemed  to  me  ages  while  the  robbers 
were  in  the  mail  car,  tearing  and  rifling  mail  pouches,  but  it 
was  only  forty-five  minutes.  Incidentally,  they  were  punch- 
ing me  in  the  stomach  with  their  guns,  and  making  me  turn 
with  my  face  to  the  wall  while  they  kicked  me,  threatening 
to  cut  my  throat,  and  gouging  me  with  a  dirk.  It  seemed  a 
long  time  there  all  alone  with  those  desperate  men.  After 
the  robbers  left,  I  had  to  stay  there  thirty  minutes  before  any- 
body came.  The  police  came  first,  then  two  of  the  clerks  ven- 
tured to  come  up  and  call  for  me  at  a  safe  distance,  and  I  an- 
swered and  had  them  come  in.  By  this  time  the  railroad  men 
had  got  up  the  scattered  train,  and  collected  the  crew  together. 
We  were  six  hours  late,  and  proceeded  on  our  journey,  a 
wearied  set  of  men. 

A.  B.  MERVILLE. 


A  Ride  for  Nothing. 

It  was  one  of  those  clear,  crisp  mornings,  slick  and  sleety, 
when  the  breath  from  human  beings  out  doors  resembled  in- 
termittent puffs  of  light  blue  smoke.  It  was  an  early  morning 
of  February,  some  years  ago,  when  the  old  Indiana  &  Peoria 
R.  P.  O.  pulled  into  a  little  junction  station  on  the  fertile 
prairie  of  Illinois. 

The  crew  of  three  men  were  all  up  except  the  Judge — he 
is  called  Judge  on  account  of  deciding  a  very  close  cake-walk 
contest  over  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  when  cake  was  being  walked 
with  appreciation.  The  Judge  had  a  few  miscellaneous  man- 
euvers uncompleted. 

"Doc,"  a  regular  M.  D.,  now  holding  forth  on  the  Clover 
Leaf  west  end,  and  "Windy"  were  in  the  rear  end  of  the  car, 
and  had  delivered  the  mail  for  this  junction,  and  piled  the  mail 
for  the  following  station. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  95 

One  of  the  rear  doors  of  the  car,  on  the  side  opposite  the 
station,  was  left  slightly  ajar,  to  admit  a  little  fresh  ozone. 

The  train  had  just  begun  to  depart  from  the  station,  when 
a  belated  passenger,  a  middle-aged  man,  out  of  respiratory 
fluid,  climbed  in  at  the  rear  opening  of  the  car  and  sat  down 
on  a  pile  of  mail,  his  breath  coming  in  little,  short  pants. 

Doc   and  Windy  went  back  to  interview  him,   in   regard 

to  his  presence,  and  he  informed  us  he  wanted  to  go  to  B , 

the  next  stop,  and  as  he  wanted  to  go  very  bad,  he  saw  that 
this  was  the  only  place  to  grab  on  and  go  without  the  train's 
leaving  him. 

He  was  told  he  could  not  ride  in  a  mail  car  without  proper 
authority  or  credentials.  He  said  it  was  his  intention  to  go 
back  to  the  coaches,  but  the  door-end  of  the  car  was  next  to 
the  engine,  so  that  was  impossible.  After  he  realized  that  it 
was  not  possible  to  get  out  of  the  car,  he  began  to  listen  in 
earnest  to  what  follows:  "Why  did  you  climb  in  that  open 
door  when  there  are  steps  on  all  the  coaches?"  "Why  did 
you  crouch  down  on  that  pile  of  mail  when  you  got  in?"  "You 
know  you  had  no  right  to  get  in  this  car.  Don't  you  know 
that  you  are  under  suspicion  as  a  mail  pilferer?  It  will  be 
impossible  for  us  to  account  for  your  presence  here  without 
showing  a  dereliction  of  duty," — and  much  more  like  "lingo." 

Then  the  Judge,  who  was  clerk-in-charge,  came  back,  peer- 
ing out  over  his  specks  with  an  authoritative  and  scrutinizing 
gaze,  and  said  we  should  have  to  take  him  into  Peoria  and 
turn  him  over  to  the  P.  O.  authorities.  That  made  the  old  boy 
sit  up  and  take  notice.  His  face  blanched  and  his  features 
set.  Then  he  pleaded  his  case  in  earnest.  He  said  he  got  in 
there,  because  otherwise  he  would  have  missed  the  train,  and 
he  just  had  to  go,  and  then  produced  letters  to  show  where  he 
was  to  meet  parties  that  morning  in  B ,  in  regard  to  busi- 
ness. He  said  he  was  an  honest  and  law-abiding  citizen,  and 
could  get  anyone  in  his  home  town  to  vouch  for  that.  He 
inquired  if  we  knew  the  mail  clerk  who  lived  in  his  town,  and 
we  told  him  yes,  and  he  said  this  clerk  would  sure  vouch  for 


96  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

him.  He  said  he  had  never  been  in  trouble  before — not  even 
under  suspicion ;  he  was  a  Mason,  an  Odd  Fellow  and  a  good 
church  member. 

Well,  after  all  of  that,  and  more  too,  we  told  him  that  would 
help  some,  so  the  arm  of  mercy  began  to  bend,  and  he  was 
encouraged  to  show  his  penitent  spirit.  He  promised  never 
to  mention  this  circumstance  to  a  living  soul.  We  told  him 
that  if  no  one  outside  of  us  should  ever  hear  it,  it  might  be 
fixed  up. 

We  did  not  like  to  cause  him  any  trouble,  and  at  the  same 
time  inconvenience  ourselves,  by  having  to  appear  as  witnesses 
when  he  had  his  preliminary  hearing  and  trial.  So  it  was 
mutually  agreed  that  mum  should  be  the  word. 

He  shot  his  right  hand  up  in  the  air  and  swore  before  us 
and  all  the  Holy  Saints  that  his  presence  here  should  remain 
a  secret,  and  should  forever  be  secludedly  locked  within  his 
breast.  Then  the  brotherhood  of  man  began  to  manifest  itself 
amongst  us.  We  told  him  that  he  had  impressed  us  favorably, 
and  that  we  had  faith  in  him.  He  tendered  us  some  good 
cigars,  and  wanted  us  to  light  up.  We  refused  with  reluc- 
tance, as  anything  which  had  the  semblance  of  a  bribe  or  paci- 
fier, would  not  have  been  in  harmony  with  our  strict  adher- 
ence to  duty.  We  were  grateful  for  his  kindness,  but  told  him 
to  keep  his  cigars,  and  when  the  smoke  was  curling  up  from 
them,  to  let  it  remind  him  of  the  serious  predicament  he  had 
escaped  from  so  fortunately. 

On  arrived  at  B ,  we  let  the  stranger  out  of  the  end 

door  of  the  car,  cautioning  him  to  be  very  careful  to  avoid 
being  observed.  He  slipped  to  the  ground  between  the  car 
and  the  engine  tender  with  as  much  caution  and  sagacity  as 
an  old  rounder  displays  when  entering  his  home  after  a  mid- 
night reverie.  He  went  down  alongside  the  train  on  the  side 
opposite  the  station,  and  around  the  rear  end  of  it,  and  then 
he  must  have  felt  that  once  again  he  was  in  the  field  of  free- 
dom. Never  was  a  man  more  gracious  for  the  consideration 
shown  him  than  was  this  one.    His  innocence,  his  earnestness, 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  97 

his  respectability,  and  his  reputation,  which  we  afterwards 
established  on  inquiry,  made  us  in  a  manner  ashamed  of  our- 
selves for  so  beguiling  him. 

But,  believe  me,  if  he  has  not  since  undergone  a  change  of 
heart,  there  is  one  man  who  will  never  again  select  a  mail  car 
for  emergency  transportation,  no  matter  how  much  he  may 
appreciate  the  magnanimous  spirit  of  a  postal  clerk. 

ANON. 


A  Near  Wreck. 

On  the  night  of  April  20,  1915,  in  Jacksonville,  Ocala  & 
Tampa,  we  came  so  nearly  having  a  wreck,  which  was  avoided 
only  by  the  thoughtfulness  of  one  man,  that  it  makes  me  shud- 
der to  think  of  it. 

At  Anthony,  eighty-five  miles  south  of  Jacksonville,  we 
had  orders  to  meet  freight  train  87  S.  A.  Line,  loaded  with 
perishable  freight.  We  took  water  and  proceeded  to  the  end 
of  the  switch  on  the  main  line,  since  they  were  to  take  the 
siding.  Just  beyond  that  point  the  expected  train  was  found. 
Investigation  showed  that  at  Oak,  two  miles  away,  something 
had  burst  about  the  cab,  and  both  engineer  and  fireman  had 
jumped.  The  engine  was  left  running  wild  at  thirty-five  miles 
an  hour.  Fortunately,  the  brakeman  was  nearing  the  front  of 
the  train,  so  as  to  be  there  to  turn  the  switch,  and  seeing  the 
train  running  wild,  crawled  down  between  the  cars  and  cut  the 
air,  stalling  it  down  just  in  time  to  save  the  lives  of  scores  of 
people.  The  express  cars,  mail  car,  and  second-class  car  were 
of  wood,  and  would  have  been  nowhere  before  a  long  train  of 
freight. 

ALPHA  E.  SMITH. 


98  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

An  Odd  Catch. 
December  23,  1914,  was  a  rough,  stormy  morning,  and  when 
train  234  of  the  Erie  &  Pittsburgh  passed  Fairview,  about  ten 
miles  from  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  it  was  impossible  to  see  any- 
thing outside,  it  not  yet  being  daylight,  and  the  wind  blowing 
the  snow  as  only  the  lake  winds  can. 

I  threw  our  pouch  off  and  raised  the  catcher  for  the  Fair- 
view  pouch.  Bing!  I  heard  it  and  felt  the  shock,  but  the 
pouch  apparently  had  dropped  to  the  ground,  and  I  so  reported 
to  the  clerk-in-charge,  giving  no  further  thought  to  the  matter. 

While  the  train  was  stopped  at  Sharon,  sixty-four  miles 
from  Fairview,  having  made  ten  or  more  stops  in  the  mean- 
time, the  brakeman  came  up  to  the  mail  car  and  asked  if  we 
had  lost  a  pouch.  I  said,  "No,  I"  guess  not,"  forgetting  about 
the  Fairview  pouch,  and  not  noticing  he  had  one  in  his  hand. 
"I  found  this  sticking  to  the  ventilator  on  the  roof  of  one  of 
the  passenger  coaches,"  he  said.  It  then  dawned  on  me  that 
it  was  the  pouch  from  Fairview. 

On  opening  it,  such  proved  to  be  the  case.  When  the 
catcher  hit  it  at  Fairview,  for  some  reason  it  knocked  it  up 
in  the  air,  where  it  was  caught  by  a  ventilator  of  the  rear 
coach  of  our  flying  train.  We  found  that  but  two  letters  had 
been  carried  by  their  destination,  the  remainder  being  for  de- 
livery further  on  along  the  line  or  for  Pittsburgh  connections. 

H.  C.  STEWART. 


A  Catching  Problem. 
"We  have  a  new  fireman  on  tonight,"  I  observed  as  I  took 
in  the  mail  at  Des  Moines.  "That  so?"  replied  Bunger,  who 
had  been  on  the  line  for  over  twenty  years.  "Well,  I  hope 
he'll  tend  to  his  engine  exclusively,  and  leave  the  mail  service 
to  us."  "How  is  that?"  I  asked,  wondering  when  he  had  had 
any  trouble  with  a  fireman.  "No,  I  never  had  any  trouble 
with  a  fireman,"  Bunger  hastened  to  rejoin,  divining  my 
thoughts,  "but,  when  you  spoke,  I  thought  of  a  deal  of  trou- 
ble I  once  had  down  the  line  over  some  catching.     At  that 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  99 

time  we  did  night  catching  at  every  little  town  along  the  line 
in  Iowa,  because  there  was  no  afternoon  service.  One  night 
I  failed  to  catch  Peru,  and  yet  I  was  certain  that  I  saw  it  on 
the  crane,  although  I  got  nothing  when  I  pulled  down  the 
catcher.  The  following  night  I  failed  to  get  Peru  again,  and 
Barney  and  Lorimor,  the  next  two  stations.  The  next  trip 
I  was  on  edge  to  avoid  any  failures  to  catch,  and  noticed  in 
particular  that  the  lights  on  the  cranes  showed  that  they  were 
properly  set.  But  at  Lorimor  I  failed  to  hook  any  pouch  out 
of  the  darkness,  although  I  had  made  certain  from  the  light 
of  the  headlight,  an  oil  lamp,  that  a  pouch  was  there. 

"O  course,  things  began  to  'pop'  in  official  channels,  and 
statements  from  the  postmasters  at  those  towns,  one  and  all, 
stated  positively  that  they  had  hung  their  pouches  correctly, 
and  most  of  them  reported  finding  a  pouch  along  the  tracks 
below  the  cranes.  It  was  recommended  that  I  be  charged  a 
fine  of  twenty  dollars  for  careless  catching.  I  made  a  state- 
ment that  I  was  always  at  the  door  on  time,  and  that  the 
pouches  in  question  were  in  no  way  affected  by  my  attempts 
at  catching  them,  and  suggested  that  it  was  possible  that  the 
pouches  had  been  maliciously  removed  from  the  cranes,  and 
afterward  the  crane  arms  were  tied  down  with  a  string  to 
fool  us.  An  inspector  soon  came  on  the  case,  and,  of  course, 
there  was  no  trouble  when  he  was  along.  He  reported  that 
the  cranes  were  in  working  order,  and  that  there  was  no  reason 
for  the  epidemic  of  failures  to  catch.  The  failures  occurred 
again  at  various  intervals  for  a  few  trips,  and  only  the  fact  that 
I  had  the  witness  of  my  helper  saved  me  from  being  sus- 
pended over  the  strange  affair.  The  towns  along  the  line  south 
of  Des  Moines  now  were  given  special  attention,  but  on  the 
first  trip  of  a  tour  I  failed  at  Peru  and  Barney.  We  stopped 
at  Lorimor  for  a  passenger,  and  I  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief,  for 
as  we  had  come  to  a  slower  speed,  I  had  hooked  off  the  pouch 
in  nice  shape.  For  some  reason  we  delayed  a  little  while,  and 
some  one  came  to  the  car  door  and  knocked  rapidly  on  it.  I 
went  to  the  door  and  the  fireman,  a  new  one,  came  climbing 
up  with  a  couple  of  pouches.     'Say!  do  you  want  those?'  he 


100  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

said  foolishly.  'When  we  stopped  here  I  went  back  on  the 
tender  to  push  down  some  coal,  and  darned  if  I  didn't  see 
these  pouches  hanging  on  my  rake,  which  was  sticking  out  a 
foot  or  so  across  the  end  of  the  tender.'  Did  we  want  'em? 
Well,  I  could  have  hugged  them.  The  fireman's  rake  had 
caused  all  this  trouble,  by  working  out  with  the  swerving  of 
the  train  and  doing  impromptu  catching.  Yes,  I  want  the  new 
fireman  not  to  indulge  in  mail  catching  with  his  rake." 

A.  D.  B. 


The  Warblers. 

It  was  eleven  P.  M.  of  one  of  those  balmy  evenings  which 
follow  the  close  of  a  bright,  autumnal  day.  Our  train  had 
left  its  western  terminus,  and  was  steadily  pulling  over  the 
road.  It  was  the  sacred  Sabbath  day  that  was  about  to  close. 
Sunday  is  always  a  welcome  day  on  the  road,  for  the  work  is 
usually  light,  thus  allowing  much  time  for  meditation  and  solil- 
oquy. 

Having  completed  our  individual  assignments  on  these  two 
subjects,  and  raised  the  human  horizontals  from  their  easy 
postures  on  the  tables,  we  took  in  a  little  mail,  then  worked  a 
little,  then  thought  a  little,  and  then  did  this: 

Hearing  conversation  the  front  end  of  the  car,  we  thought 
we  would  investigate,  and,  if  conditions  were  opportune,  would 
indulge  in  puerile  pranks.  So  we  unlocked  and  opened  the  end 
door,  and  there,  between  the  car  and  the  engine,  were  three 
husky  descendants  of  Ham,  who  had  chosen  to  take  passage. 
They  said  they  had  boarded  at  the  railroad  yard  where  the 
train  stopped  for  inspection. 

We  solicited  cash  fare  from  them,  but  cash  was  an  article 
they  were  very  short  on,  so  they  said.  They  came  across 
with  nothing.  Well,  no  money — no  ride,  and  so  one  of  the 
boys  reached  up  and  took  hold  of  the  air  cord,  pulled  the  slack 
ont  of  it,  and  said  he  would  stop  the  train.    Another  clerk  sug- 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  101 

gested  that  they  should  sing  a  few  songs  for  us,  and  that  they 
should  have  an  "eleemosynary"  ride  (A  Black  Book  Shark-eh?) 

They  said  they  did  not  know  what  that  "eleey"  business 
was,  but  they  sure  would  sing  some  songs.  They  were  told 
to  limber  up  their  vocal  apparatuses  and  cut  loose  their  sym- 
phony, and  the  longer  the  concert  the  farther  the  ride. 

They  did  so  with  grinning  features  and  profuse  gesticula- 
tions, opening  up  with— "Way  down  in  my  heart  there  is  a 
feeling  for  you." 

They  said  singing  was  right  in  their  line,  and  sang  "Old 
Kentucky  Home"  and  another  song  or  two  for  us.  Those 
coons  surely  could  sing,  and  the  rumbling  of  the  train  inter- 
fered just  enough  to  make  us  listen  with  interest.  We  told 
them  they  were  all  right,  and  as  far  as  we  were  concerned,  the 
head  end  of  the  train  was  theirs,  closed  the  door  and  left  them 
alone. 

When  the  train  stopped  at  a  chute  to  take  coal,  about  forty 
miles  from  where  they  took  passage,  a  big  Irish  brakeman,  the 
"bum-chaser"  of  the  division,  drove  them  from  their  state 
room,  and  the  train  departed  without  them. 

CHAS.  H.  OLMSTED. 


102 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


Mr.  John   H.   Pitney,   R.   P.  C. 
Dean  of  Postal   Clerks. 


Dean  of  Railway  Postal  Clerks. 

In  Eagle  Bridge,  Rensselear  County,  N.  Y.,  lives  a  man, 
who  has  perhaps  the  most  interesting  record  of  any  postal 
clerk  in  the  United  States.  The  life  of  this  clerk,  Mr.  John 
H.  Pitney,  practically  spans  the  present  history  of  the  rail- 
way mail  service.  Appointed  in  1861,  on  a  petition  signed  by 
seventy-nine  townsmen,  Mr.  Pitney  has  run  the  whole  gamut 
from  a  "route  agent"  of  '61,  to  a  clerk-in-charge  of  a  modern 
railway  post  office,  the  Boston,  Troy  &  Albany. 

Seeing  and  experiencing  a  half  a  century's  changes  in  mail 
service,  in  civil  and  industrial  life,  would  be  interesting,  but 
Mr.  Pitney  has  had  some  experiences  out  of  the  regular  sched- 
ule of  events  in  a  rapidly  developing  country.    In   1867,  the 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  103 

president  of  the  Troy  &  Boston  Railroad  demanded  immediate 
increase  in  compensation  for  carrying  the  mails,  and  when  it 
was  not  forthcoming  on  a  certain  date,  ordered  Mr.  Pitney 
to  remove  all  government  property  from  the  mail  car,  and  to 
vacate.  The  government  had  expected  trouble,  and  had  au- 
thorized a  contract  to  be  drawn  with  a  teamster  at  Eagle 
Bridge.  So,  when  he  was  ordered  to  vacate,  Mr.  Pitney 
wheeled  his  mail  to  the  end  of  the  platform,  where  a  fine  team 
and  sled  awaited  him.  For  thirty  days  he  was  clerk-in-charge 
in  a  sled,  a  charge  which  was  more  interesting  than  romantic, 
owing  to  heavy  snows.  In  the  meantime  a  new  contract  was 
made  with  the  railroad,  and  his  sleigh  mail  service  ended. 

In  his  life  on  the  road,  Mr.  Pitney  has  experienced  three 
serious  wrecks,  from  which  he  was  fortunate  to  escape  with 
his  life.  The  year  following  his  sled-service,  his  train  was 
blown  from  the  track  in  a  storm  and  rolled  down  a  thirty-five- 
foot  embankment.  Dr.  Dwight,  of  Boston,  was  killed,  and  Mr. 
Robinson,  a  brother  of  the  president  of  the  road,  was  fatally 
injured,  but  Mr.  Pitney  escaped  with  a  few  bruises.  In  1886 
his  train  plunged  into  the  Deerfield  River,  the  bridge  having 
been  washed  out.  Ten  persons  were  killed,  and  practically 
all  of  the  passengers  injured.  Mr.  Pitney  was  thrown  into 
the  river,  but  was  uninjured,  and  stood  up  to  his  armpits  in 
the  water,  saving  all  the  mail  and  registered  packages  that 
floated  within  reach.  Mr.  Pitney  was  in  the  wreck  in  1893 
at  North  Adams.  A  car  of  lumber  broke  loose  from  a  freight, 
and,  not  being  provided  with  brakes,  ran  away  down  a  grade, 
colliding  with  his  train  and  causing  a  serious  wreck.  Mr. 
Pitney  was  severely  battered  up,  but  was  not  out  of  the  harness 
long.  He  now  thinks  he  is  immune  from  accident,  having  been 
in  three. 

Throwing  mail  was  not  the  only  interest  of  this  veteran 
clerk.  Feeling  the  need  of  a  church  in  his  community,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  erecting  a  place  of  worship  by  contributions 
from  postal  clerks,  postmasters,  expressmen,  and  railroad  men. 
He  was  successful  in  this  enterprise,  and  in  1882,  the  church 
was  dedicated,  a  notable  monument  to  Mr.   Pitney  and  his 


104  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

friends.  The  builder  of  the  memorial  church  is  also  a  musician, 
and  has  led  church  choirs  for  nearly  fifty  years.  He  has 
found  time  to  compose  a  number  of  hymns,  and  several  popu- 
lar songs,  including  "Bye,  Bye,  Bye,"  "Those  Little  Worn 
Shoes  On  The  Wall,"  and  "Rock-a-Bye-Baby."  As  a  minor 
diversion,  when  not  preparing  slips,  etc.,  the  veteran  clerk 
raises  Dorking  chickens. 

Mr.  Pitney  celebrated  his  fiftieth  wedding  anniversary  in 
February,  1908.  On  that  ocasion  he  and  his  wife  were  pre- 
sented with  beautiful  tokens  of  esteem,  including  a  golden 
tribute  by  his  townspeople,  and  one  by  postal  clerks  and  rail- 
road men.  A  letter  of  congratulation  and  appreciation  was 
received  from  the  Second  Assistant  P.  M.  G.,  Mr.  J.  T.  Mc- 
Cleary,  on  the  happy  occasion.  The  letter  which  Mr.  Pitney 
has  framed  in  his  home  is  as  follows : 

My  dear  Mr.  Pitney : 

Some  one  has  sent  me  a  copy  of  the  Troy  "Times" 
for  February  4th.  I  have  just  come  upon  it  in  going 
through  a  pile  of  miscellaneous  mail  that  accumulated 
during  my  recent  absence  from  the  city. 

In  this  paper  I  find  a  picture  of  yourself  and  your 
good  wife  and  an  account  of  your  married  life  of  half 
a  century.  I  cannot  forbear  expressing  to  you,  at  this 
time,  my  hearty  congratulations  on  two  lives  well 
lived.  Having  lived  with  Mrs.  Pitney  so  long,  your 
face  seems  to  have  taken  on  some  of  the  beauty  and 
kindliness  of  hers.  That  is  one  of  the  rewards  of  keep- 
ing good  company. 

I  note  that  for  even  a  longer  period  you  have  been 
in  the  Railway  Mail  Service.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  the  stories  of  human  joy  and  sorrow  ex- 
pressed in  the  millions  of  letters  that  you  have  handled. 
I  am  sure  from  your  face  that  if  you  had  known  the 
contents  of  the  letters  that  passed  through  your  hands, 
your  sensibilities  would  have  been  touched  every  day. 
But  you  could  not  have  endured  the  strain  for  fifty-five 
years.  In  the  splendid  service  of  which  you  have  had 
so  long  and  honorable  a  part  you  had  just  one  general 
thought,  namely,  to  pass  on  these  communications — 
whether  they  carried  expressions  of  joy  and  affection 
or  of  sorrow  and  of  hate — to  their  proper  destination 
with  celerity  and  safety. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  105 

I  have  never  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  and 
your  good  wife,  but  judging  by  the  account  in  the 
newspaper  and  by  the  appearance  of  your  faces,  as 
shown  in  the  pictures  published  therein,  you  can  both 
both  look  backward  with  satisfaction  and  forward  with 
hope. 
.  .Please  present  my  regards  to  Mrs.  Pitney. 

.  Hoping  that  you  may  both  be  granted  long  life  and 
continued  happiness  here  and  hereafter,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

J.  T.  McCleary, 
Second  Assistant  Postmaster-General. 

W.  J.  D. 


A  Good  Catch. 

He  was  a  man  with  a  military  record,  one  of  the  nations 
defenders,  a  powder  burner  of  the  Spanish  American  War. 
He  had  ruined  his  molars  by  crunching  barbed  wires  and  pull- 
ing staples  to  clear  the  way  for  that  terrible  onslaught  up  San 
Juan  Hill.  On  account  of  his  executive  ability  and  general 
resourcefulness  he  was  once  delegated  to  put  down  a  big  strike 
in  Chicago.  This  task  he  accomplished  in  less  than  a  fort- 
night and  returned  without  a  scar  or  a  blemish.  He  was  a 
past  master  in  the  art  of  dilating  human  magnanimity ;  he  pos- 
sessed a  suave  and  genial  manner  and  an  indulgent  disposition, 
and  such  were  his  pacifying  qualities  that  he  could  take  the 
temper  out  of  hardened  steel. 

Notwithstanding,  he  was  a  good  postal  clerk,  with  an  un- 
failing memory,  an  accurate  aim,  and  was  as  good  a  shooter 
as  ever  shot  a  letter  into  the  wickets.  He  was  local  clerk  on 
a  night  R.  P.  O.  The  tables  in  a  mail  car  had  an  attraction 
for  him  like  that  of  a  loadstone  has  for  a  shining  needle.  He 
took  the  short  cut  and  always  lit  lengthwise,  so  highly  de- 
veloped was  his  recumbent  disposition.  It  was  the  last  trip 
of  a  six  nights'  tour  of  duty,  and,  knowing  that  he  had  an 
equal  number  of  days,  on  winding  up,  for  rest  and  recupera- 
tion, he  was  a  little  lax  with  his  vigor  building  allowance 
allotted  to  this  last  day  at  .     Instead  of  folding  him- 


106  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

self  in  the  arms  of  Morpheus  as  the  rest  of  us  were  wont  to  do, 
he  chose  to  take  a  little  reconnoitering  sortie  and  get  the  lay 
of  the  land  for  fruitful  foraging.  Hence,  when  he  came  to 
work  that  night  he  was  fagged  and  fatigued,  troubled  with  a 
bad  case  of  dropsy,  figuratively  speaking,  and  as  soon  as  his 
work  was  in  shape  to  allow  him  to  do  so,  he  dropped  down 
in  his  accustomed  resting  place  to  replenish  his  stock  of  red 
corpuscles,  requesting  that  he  be  called,  etc.     It  was  about 

thirty  minutes'  run  to  the  next  receiving  station,  D , 

which  was  a  catcher.  He  requested  that  he  be  called  in  ample 
time  to  pick  the  pouch  from  the  crane,  and,  being  assured  that 
this  would  be  done,  he  succumbed  to  serene  slumber. 

The  engine  had  whistled  for  several  intervening  stations 
and  one  of  the  boys  presuming  that  we  were  running  into  the 
aforesaid  station  announced  it  in  a  stentorian  tone  of  voice,  and 
off  slid  the  soldier  from  his  resting  place  with  as  much  ease 
and  deliberation  as  a  house  cat  exercises  in  shifting  his  posi- 
tion from  in  front  of  a  warm  fireplace.  He  ambled  to  the 
door,  pulled  down  the  catcher.'  Biff!  Bing!  Bang!  and  the  arm 
of  the  catcher  was  gone.  It  was  not  equal  to  the  concussion. 
He  had  tried  to  catch  a  coal  chute  about  four  miles  distant 
from  where  his  pouch  was  hanging.  He  stepped  back  from 
the  door  all  excited,  his  shocky  head  of  hair  standing  per- 
pendicular, his  large  hazel  eyes  dilated  to  about  the  size  of 
crystals,  and.  with  an  expression  of  intense  agony  on  his  face, 

ejaculated — "What  did  you  tell  me  that  was  D for?" 

His  military  training  here  served  him  well.  He  quickly  calmed 
himself,  and,  at  once  realized  the  predicament,  hastily  changed 
the  catcher  from  the  other  side  of  the  car,  and  all  was  well, 

D was  caught  and  the  old  boy  with  his  usual  sagacity 

for  smoothing  things  over  said,  as  he  opened  the  pouch  and 
threw  the  mail  on  the  table,  "I  am  mighty  glad  I  did  not  pull 
in  that  coal  chute,  for  there  is  no  one  in  the  car  who  knows 
how  to  work  it."  He  said  that  a  man,  to  pull  off  a  stunt  like 
this  with  safety  and  precision,  had  to  be  versed  in  legerdemain. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  well  staged  and  made  a  fine  vaudeville 
stunt.  Anon. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  107 

Paraphernalia. 

"Several  years  ago  I  had  a  run  out  of  Portland.  I  came  in 
late  at  the  end  of  a  heavy  week's  work.  There  had  been  an 
avalanche  of  circulars  and  also  almost  an  avalanche  of  snow; 
the  later  causing  late  trains,  missed  connections,  special  re- 
ports, delayed  mails,  etc.,  ad  infinitum.  On  entering  my  house 
by  the  kitchen  door  I  plumped  my  grip,  or  rather  old  suit-case, 
containing  my  paraphernalia  down  by  the  door,  kicked  off  my 
overshoes,  and  took  my  other  grip  containing  my  clothes  to 
the  bathroom.  I  made  quick  work  of  undressing  and  bathing 
and  soon  was  in  bed,  and  almost  as  soon  asleep  with  a  parting 
consciousness  of  a  week  ended  and  of  gently  falling  snow. 

My  wife  was  accustomed  to  allowing  me  undisturbed  late 
morning  sleep  the  first  few  mornings  of  my  weeks  off;  in  fact, 
she  hardly  stirred  until  she  knew  I  was  awake.  On  this  occa- 
sion her  "Ladyship''  had  got  as  far  as  the  kitchen  to  begin  the 
preparation  of  breakfast  when  I  awoke  and  was  gazing  out  on 
a  white  landscape.  Suddenly  exclamations  and  inquiries  came 
floating  from  kitchenward,  and  wife  came  to  announce  that  a 
burglar  had  been  in  our  house,  the  silverware  was  gone,  and 
tracks  from  melted  snow  could  be  seen  about  the  floor.  In- 
vestigation confirmed  the  statements.  A  night  prowler  had 
evidently  seen  me  enter,  and  not  hearing  me  lock  or  try  the 
door  had  tried  it  himself,  successfully.  Well,  all  he  got  was 
some  ordinary  silver  knives  and  forks  and  my  old  suit-case 
from  by  the  door.  My  wife  said  the  knives  and  forks  had 
been  used  long  enough  anyway,  and  we  considered  ourselves 
lucky  at  first.  But  as  I  got  to  thinking  of  my  "junk''  in  that 
old  suit-case,  I  realized  that  there  were  some  old  things  that 
it  would  be  hard  to  replace ;  besides  I  should  have  to  spend 
days  in  the  Chief  Clerk's  office  correcting  up  schemes. 

As  we  sat  at  the  table  eating  breakfast  with  our  "best" 
silverware,  I  noticed  from  the  window  tracks  leading  out 
across  the  orchard,  and  it  occurred  to  me  that  of  course  a 
burglar  would  leave  the  back  way  with  loot.  So,  after  eating, 
I  leggined  up  and  followed  the  tracks  out  to  the  alley  and  down 
across   alley   to   a   vacant   lot   practically   surrounded   by   bill 


108 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


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[OVER1 


Pages  from  a  Schedule  of  mail  trains,  Sixth  Division.  The  list  at 
bottom  shows  for  what  routes  the  trains  of  this  line  dispatch  regular 
pouches,  and  at  which  point  and  how  frequently. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  109 

boards.  There  in  the  corner  was  my  old  suitcase  covered  with 
a  thin  coat  of  snow.  Plain  as  day !  The  burglar  had  stopped  to 
investigate  his  haul.  First  he  had  pulled  out  a  scheme  of  New 
Hampshire,  1910;  next  a  cancelling  stamp,  worth  nothing  for 
old  iron  ;  a  copy  of  the  Black  Book ;  a  scheme  of  Pennsylvania 
lay  near;  and  in  the  suit-case  a  bundle  of  receipts,  cards,  an 
extra  run  of  labels,  a  map  of  New  York,  a  registry  book,  and 
some  standpoint  sheet  schemes  had  been  fumbled  over  and 
partially  hauled  out.  But  it  was  no  use.  Nothing  in  the  grip 
would  cash  for  a  penny  if  indeed  the  things  were  any  value  on 
earth.  The  old  case  was  the  worse  for  car  wear  and  would 
not  bring  ten  cents.  Stung !  I  gathered  up  my  precious  "junk" 
and  returned  to  the  house  where  my  wife  congratulated  me  on 
belonging  to  a  profession,  the  very  tools  of  which  were  worth- 
less and  unknown  to  even  a  burglar. 

Anon. 


A  Yarn. 


"The  train  suddenly  stopped;  a  rap  on  the  car  door  and  a 
few  quick  commands.  In  stepped  a  man  with  a  shooting  iron. 
'Hands  up  and  tell  me  where  the  registers  are.'  'All  right, 
you  can  have  anything  in  the  car;  but  listen.  I  have  several 
hundred  minus  marks  with  no  chances  of  getting  any  plus.  I 
want  to  make  them  believe  I  did  my  best  to  protect  the  mails. 
You  just  put  several  bullet  holes  through  my  clothes.'  'Well, 
I  guess  I  can,'  answered  the  robber.  'Put  one  here  through 
my  left  shirt  sleeve.  — Ping.  And  through  my  right.  — Ping- 
Through  my  pants  leg. — Ping.  And  the  other. — Ping. 
Through  my  hat. — Ping.  And  another  through  my  shirt  on 
the  left.'  T  have  no  more  cartridges,'  calmly  answered  the 
man. 

'Haven't  you  another  gun?'  asked  the  clerk. 

"  'No,  I  haven't.' 

"  'Well,  I  have,  hands  up.' 


110  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

"The  robber  was  captured  and  jailed.  Needless  to  say  the 
clerk  received  500  plus  and  special  appreciation  from  the  De- 
partment." 

Theodore  H.  Meyer. 


Rich  Reading. 

A  substitute  was  in  an  assignment  where  he  had  to  work 
papers.  One  sack  that  he  made  up  was  addressed  to  a  line 
that  headed  out  of  the  same  station  at  which  the  sub  termi- 
nated his  run. 

It  was  the  duty  of  this  sub  to  report  to  this  second  R.  P.  O. 
upon  his  arrival  and  work  papers  until  leaving  time. 

It  so  happened  upon  one  occasion  that  he  found  a  lot  of 
daily  papers  in  the  sack  he  had  made  up  in  the  first  R.  P.  O. 
that  should  have  had  a  different  dispatch  than  the  one  given 
them. 

He  did  not  turn  the  slip  over  to  see  who  made  it  up,  but 
checked  a  "special"  upon  it  and  passed  it  in  to  the  clerk-in- 
charge. 

When,  in  due  course  of  time,  the  "special"  came  to  him 
with  his  name  on  both  sides  of  the  slip,  you  could  have  lassoed 
his  eyes  with  a  grapevine. 

That  sub  now  always  knows  whose  slip  he  is  checking. 

— Postal  Alliance. 


Lunching. 

Having  worked  for  years  in  the  lumber  woods,  I  became 
dissatisfied  with  hard  work,  and  decided  to  try  "something 
easy."  Accordingly  I  took  the  civil  service  examination  and 
in  a  short  time  found  myself  appointed  to  the  R.  M.  S.  with- 
out a  single  idea  as  to  what  my  duties  were  to  be.  But  I  was 
"game"  to  try  anything  once,  and  if  I  liked  it  I  might  try 
again. 

As  soon  as  I  had  qualified  as  a  substitute  and  before  I  had 
studied  or  learned  anything  about  the  service,  I  was  given  a 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  ill 

thirty-day  assignment  to  the  Albuquerque  and  Ashfork  R.  P. 
O.  to  work  California  letters  west-bound  on  the  California 
Limited.  We  stopped  at  Gallup,  New  Mexico,  a  few  minutes, 
just  long-  enough  to  run  into  the  Harvey  Lunch  Counter  and 
buy  a  lunch  to  eat  on  the  train. 

At  that  time  the  waitress  on  duty  there  when  the  train  ar- 
rived was  engaged  to  one  of  the  clerks  on  the  line  and  was 
in  the  habit  of  preparing  a  lunch  consisting  of  the  best  the 
house  afforded,  sufficient  for  the  three  clerks.  They  would 
give  her  ten  cents  to  ring  up  on  the  register  for  looks.  When 
I  started  this  assignment  I  was  chosen  as  the  one  who  should 
supply  the  ten  cents,  and  so  for  three  succesive  trips,  one  of 
the  other  clerks  asked  me  if  I  wanted  any  lunch  at  Gallup, 
volunteering  to  purchase  it  for  me  when  he  got  off  there.  He 
would  purchase  whatever  I  asked  him  to,  and  get  the  lunch 
Marie  had  ready  for  him  free. 

On  the  fourth  trip,  however,  they  decided  it  had  gone  far 
enough,  and  so  each  of  the  others  said  that  he  did  not  care  for 
any  lunch,  and  I  had  to  go  for  my  own.  As  usual,  Marie  gave 
me  the  bag  she  had  prepared,  and  the  whole  thing  dawned 
upon  me.  The  other  clerks  did  not  want  any  lunch,  thinking 
that  I  would  be  unable  to  eat  all  that  was  sure  to  be  in  the  bag 
which  they  always  got,  and  would  divide  up,  but  they  forgot 
that  I  was  just  out  of  a  logging  camp  and  had  an  enormous 
appetite.  I  sat  down  calmly  and  ate  the  whole  amount  in- 
tended for  three  men  without  a  word,  inwardly  chuckling  to 
myself,  "He  laughs  best  who  laughs  last." 

Frank  E.  Page. 


A  Train  Robbery. 

On  Saturday  night,  September  24,  189—,  the  St.  Paul  & 
Helena  R.  P.  O.,  Train  No.  1,  left  St.  Paul  at  4.15  p.  m.  The 
mail  crew  was  composed  of  Dana  Todd,  in  charge,  John  A. 
Rafftery,  second  man,  and  Sherman  R.  Chamberlin,  third  man. 
The  mail  was  about  as  usual  for  that  season  of  the  year,  and 
the  trip  was  without  incident  until  we  reached  Glyndon,  Min- 
nesota, which  is  a  junction  with  the  St.  Paul  &  Minot  R.  P.  O. 


112  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

On  leaving  Glyndon  for  the  short  run  to  Moorhead,  three 
"bums"  got  on,  one  on  the  "rear  end,"  and  two  on  the  "head 
end."  One  of  the  two  men  on  the  "head  end"  wished  no  other 
company,  and  so,  when  we  were  a  little  way  out  of  Glyndon, 
he  took  his  partner  by  the  seat  of  the  pants  and  the  nape  of 
the  neck  and  threw  him  off  in  the  mud,  as  we  afterwards 
learned,  because  this  man  went  back  to  Glyndon  and  reported 
to  the  agent,  who  said  he  looked  as  though  he  had  been  rolled 
in  the  mud. 

The  dumping  incident  was  unknown  to  us  R.  P.  C.'s  at  the 
time,  but  as  we  neared  Moorhead  we  heard  what  we  thought 
was  the  opening  of  the  air-cock  on  our  car,  and  the  train  came 
to  a  stop.  I  went  to  the  "rear  end"  of  the  car  to  see  that  no 
mail  had  fallen  upon  and  opened  our  air-cock,  and  finding 
everything  all  right,  thought  nothing  more  of  the  incident.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  man  on  the  rear  platform  had  cut  the  air, 
and  when  the  train  came  to  a  stop  and  the  conductor  and 
brakeman  came  forward  to  investigate,  they  were  escorted  to 
the  engine  tender,  where  the  four,  conductor,  brakeman,  en- 
gineer, and  fireman  were  ranged  in  a  semi-circle,  looking  into 
two  guns  in  the  hands  of  each  of  the  two  "bums,"  the  man  on 
the  forward  end  having  in  the  meantime  climbed  upon  the 
tender  and  covered  the  engineer  and  fireman  with  a  gun.  An 
expressman,  who  happened  to  be  off  duty  came  forward  to  see 
what  the  matter  was,  but  he  was  sufficiently  urged  to  return 
to  the  coaches,  and  did  so  in  a  hurry,  informing  the  expressmen 
on  duty  that  a  hold-up  was  in  progress.  So  the  express  cat- 
was  duly  barricaded,  and  the  passengers  on  the  train  warned 
and  all  awaited  the  hold-up  men.  But  the  hold-up  men  un- 
coupled the  mail  car  and  started  ahead  with  that  only.  ^Ye, 
of  course,  knew  nothing  about  what  was  going  on,  on  the  out- 
side, as  we  had  not  taken  the  trouble  to  open  the  doors  and 
look  out. 

The  engine  and  mail  car  had  pulled  forward  some  few  miles 
when  we  heard  what  we  thought  to  be  a  torpedo  ahead,  and 
the  train  came  to  a  stop  a  second  time.  Again  we  thought 
nothing  of  this  as  we  were  accustomed  to  such  things,  and  did 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  113 

not  look  out  of  the  door.  After  standing  some  time.  Todd, 
having1  finished  his  distribution  and  walked  the  floor  a  few 
times,  opened  the  door  by  way  of  diversion.  He  leaned  up 
against  one  side  of  the  doorway  for  a  while,  and  then  he  said: 
"Sherm,  they're  running  in  some  'bums.'  They're  tying  their 
hands  behind  them."  While  this  was  not  a  rare  incident,  as 
in  the  fall  of  the  year  it  was  often  a  question  of  whether  the 
"bums,''  or  the  train  crew  would  run  the  train,  still  I  thought 
it  worth  my  while  to  watch  the  tying-up  process,  and  so  quit 
my  papers  and  leaned  against  the  other  side  of  the  doorway. 

On  looking  out,  I  saw  two  lanterns  in  the  hands  of  the  con- 
ductor and  brakeman,  respectively,  as  I  could  tell  by  the  re- 
flection of  the  light  upon  their  brass  buttons,  and  saw  what 
looked  to  be  a  "1mm"  having  his  hands  tied  behind  him,  which 
"bum"  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  the  engineer  having  his  hands 
wired  behind  him.  I  had  been  looking  out  but  a  short  time 
when  the  procession,  headed  by  the  conductor,  started  for 
what  we  supposed  was  the  rear  of  the  train.  We  stood  in  a 
brightly  lighted  car  looking  out  into  the  darkness,  and  so  could 
not  see  clearly  unless  the  object  looked  at  stepped  within  the 
light  thrown  obliquely  through  the  door  by  a  roof  chandelier. 
Immediately  on  answering  the  conductor's  query,  a  man  hold- 
ing two  guns  stepped  into  this  light.  He  was  gloved,  wore  a 
slouch  hat  turned  down  in  front  and  a  black  mask,  and  hence 
all  we  knew  was  that  he  was  over  three  feet  and  less  than  ten 
feet  high.  Pointing  a  gun  at  each  of  us,  he  said,  "Come  out 
here,"  in  a  very  persuasive  way.  Todd  answered,  "Yes,  sir," 
as  cheerfully  as  he  could  and  started  to  back  out.  Just  then 
it  occurred  to  the  hold-up  man  that  there  might  be  someone 
else  in  the  car,  and  so  he  put  the  question.  Todd,  fearing  that 
Rafftery  might  be  found  and  shot  up,  told  him  that  we  had  a 
man  sleeping.  The  hold-up  man  said,  "Go  and  wake  him  up," 
and  as  he  had  a  gun  on  each  of  us,  and  mentioned  no  names, 
neither  of  us  knew  which  was  meant  and  we  both  stood  .still. 
Then  he  shook  his  gun  at  me  and  repeated  his  "request,"  which 
promptly  complied  with,  touching  only  the  high  spots  between 
the  door  and  the  rear  of  the  car.     I  gave  John  a  shake  and 


114  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

told  him  to  get  up,  that  we  had  a  surprise  party.  I  then  hur- 
ried back  to  join  my  comrades,  who  had  by  this  time  been 
lined  up  across  the  railroad  grade  ditch  with  their  backs  to  it. 

You  must  recollect  that  the  principal  product  of  this  coun- 
try is  the  sand  bur.  and  on  sitting  down,  I  realized  this  slightly. 
However,  as  our  friend  John  came  sleepily  to  the  door,  he  was 
suddenly  "brought  to"'  on  looking  into  two  guns  and  thor- 
oughly awakened.  It  seems  he  thought  there  was  a  wreck, 
but  he  knew  from  the  tone  of  my  voice  that  whatever  the 
trouble  he  had  very  little  time  to  waste,  and  hence  he  appeared 
in  full  night  regalia,  which,  of  course,  did  not  resist  sand  burs 
very  well.  On  attempting  to  sit  down,  John  rebounded  about 
two  feet,  and  let  out  a  yell  to  correspond.  The  hold-up  man 
merely  said.  "The  first  man  who  turns  his  head  this  way  gets 
his  nose  blown  off,"  (with  appropriate  French),  at  which  John 
quietly  nestled  down  among  the  sand  burs  and  said  no  more 
save  under  his  breath  with  which  he  swore  at  me,  for  the 
whole  thing  tickled  me  so  that  I  was  laughingly  quietly. 

YVe  then  found  there  were  two  men,  each  armed  with  two 
guns,  and  while  one  guarded  the  line  composed  of  the  con- 
ductor, Patsy  Corcoran,  myself,  Rafftery,  Todd,  the  engineer, 
the  fireman,  and  the  brakeman,  the  other  man  climbed  into  the 
mail  car.  His  first  exclamation  was  "Where  in  Hel(-ena, 
Montana,)  is  the  express  car?''  Some  one  informed  him  that 
he  had  left  that  several  miles  back  in  the  country,  at  which 
he  released  a  string  of  oaths  which  would  have  done  credit  to 
any  professional,  and  then  called  for  the  clerk-in-charge,  to 
which  title  Todd  responded.  He  asked  Todd  to  deliver  his 
local  registers,  Todd  did  so,  as  they  were  lying  right  on  the 
desk  in  front  of  him.  Todd  took  advantage,  however,  of  the 
distinction  thus  raised  by  the  holp-up  man  and  explained  that 
a  night  train  carried  no  local  registers,  save  such  as  were 
picked  up  through  inadvertence,  thus  accounting  for  his  hav- 
ing but  ten.  This  was  the  truth,  as  in  those  days  night  trains 
did  not  carry  locals.  Todd  backed  around  the  car  looking  at 
a  gun  until  the  hold-up  man  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  115 

his  statements,  when  Todd  was  told  to  rejoin  the  rest  of  us 
out  on  the  sand-bur  patch.  The  hold-up  man  proceeded  to  go 
through  the  car  to  his  own  satisfaction,  dumping  pouches  of 
ordinary  mail,  and  slitting  from  top  to  bottom  the  Helena 
pouch,  which  we  had  just  locked  out  while  the  car  was  stand- 
ing there.  This  pouch  was  the  only  one  in  the  rear  of  the  car 
not  containing  registered  mail,  as  in  those  days  there  was  but 
one  overland  train  a  day,  and  we  carried  all  of  the  registered 
mail  for  the  North  Pacific  Coast  and  Alaska.  The  rear  one- 
third  of  our  car  was  piled  to  the  roof  with  nothing  save  through 
registered  pouches,  but  the  hold-up  man  did  not  know  enough 
to  distinguish  a  registered  pouch  from  an  ordinary  one,  and 
as  Todd  had  told  him  there  were  but  ten  local  registers,  and 
his  own  search  had  satisfied  him  that  there  were  no  more  in 
the  car,  he  evidently  considered  himself  unlucky  and  let  it  go 
at  that. 

The  hold-up  man  then  came  out  and  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  line,  giving  the  command,  "Stand  up."  This  being  the  case 
of  another  command  given  impersonally,  and  all  being  anxious 
to  please,  we  all  stood  up,  at  which  the  gentleman  in  charge 
swore  quite  copiously  and  asked  all  save  the  conductor  to 
"please"  be  seated  again  (only  he  used  various  synonyms  for 
"please").  After  we,  including  John,  were  comfortably  seated, 
the  hold-up  man  started  through  Corcoran's  pockets,  and,  as  a 
gentle  reminder,  rested  his  gun  on  Corcoran's  shoulder.  "When 
the  hold-up  man  started  to  spill  out  Corcoran's  tickets,  Cor- 
coran thoughtlessly  put  his  hand  on  the  pocket,  and  when  the 
hold-up  man  rubbed  his  gun  by  Corcoran's  ear,  he  jumped  a 
little  and  exclaimed,  "Oh !  I  beg  your  pardon — I'll  see  that  it 
does  not  happen  again." 

Having  obtained  twenty-five  dollars  from  Corcoran,  the 
hold-up  man  ordered  him  to  start  an  advance  line  about  ten 
feet  ahead,  where  he  stood  while  I  was  put  through  the  same 
performance.  I  had  on  a  blue  jumper  suit  in  which  there  was 
absolutely  nothing  but  my  handkerchief,  wherefore  the  hold- 
up man  got  nothing.  I  then  joined  Corcoran  ahead.  These 
minutes  seemed  like  a  few  hours  to  us,  and,  getting  tired  of 


116  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

standing,  we  asked  permission  to  sit  down,  (always  prefacing 
a  request  by  the  salutation,  "boss,"  which  term  we  used  in 
making  any  request  for  change  of  position  or  anything  else). 
All  were  passed  through  this  search  and  advanced  to  the  front 
line.  When  this  performance  was  finished  We  were  all  told 
to  stand  up  and  get  into  the  mail  car.  We  were  told  to  turn 
all  the  lights  out  save  those  in  the  front  chandelier  and  turn 
those  so  very  low  that  we  could  not  distinguish  each  other  in 
the  car.  \\re  were  admonished  that  the  first  man  who  showed 
his  head  at  a  window  or  door  would  be  shot.  The  engineer 
asked  if  he  should  climb  on  the  engine,  and  was  answered 
"No! —  we'll  give  you  the  ride  of  your  lives."  Then  for  the 
first  time  we  were  all  thoroughly  scared,  for  we  knew  that  the 
hold-up  men  had  gotten  very  little  for  their  pains,  and  we 
expected  them  to  throw  open  the  throttle  and  let  the  engine 
go  where  it  would.  The  headlight  had  been  put  out,  and  there 
we  were,  standing  on  the  main  track  with  no  flagman  in  either 
direction  and  no  headlight  to  warn,  and  expecting  any  minute 
to  have  the  engine  start  off  without  an  engineer.  At  that 
time  there  was  no  communication  between  the  mail  car  and 
engine  except  via  the  ground.  We  huddled  together  in  the 
rear  of  the  car  and  scarcely  breathed  for  what  seemed  an  hour 
or  so.  Nothing  happened,  however,  and  finally  the  engineer 
got  up  courage  enough  to  stick  his  head  out  of  the  door  and 
hollow,  "Hello,  Boss,"  several  times.  This  salutation  was 
unanswered,  and  so  we  concluded  that  the  hold-up  men  had 
taken  this  opportunity  to  disappear.  The  engineer  then  climbed 
out  of  the  car' and  onto  the  engine  and  we  pulled  for  Moorhead. 
By  that  time  we  were  a  pretty  badly  scared  bunch,  and,  al- 
though it  was  my  turn  to  sleep  from  Fargo  to  Jamestown, 
somehow  I  did  not  feel  sleepy.  Todd  took  a  little  supper,  but 
soon  parted  with  it.  John  was  very  busy  the  rest  of  the  trip 
working  mail  and  extracting  sand  burs. 

A  posse  was  formed  at  Moorhead  and  sent  back  for  the 
remainder  of  the  train,  and  incidently  for  the  hold-up  men. 
The  posse  found  the  train  all  right,  but  the  hold-up  men  left 
for  parts  unknown.     We  figured  that  they  had  not  intended 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  117 

to  hold  up  the  mail  car,  and  had  made  a  mistake  in  not  bring- 
ing the  express  car.  The  rest  of  the  train  occupants,  consist- 
ing of  the  passengers  and  expressmen,  were  unharmed,  save 
for  the  fright  incident  to  momentarily  expecting  the  hold-up 
men,  who  did  not  appear.  The  opened  registered  envelopes 
scattered  about  the  car  showed  that  the  contents  had  been 
nothing  save  deeds,  mortgages,  etc.,  which  were  of  no  value  to 
the  hold-up  men,  and  had  been  left.  The  money  secured  was 
twenty-five  dollars  from  the  conductor,  fifteen  dollars  from  the 
engineer  and  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  from  Todd.  Watches 
were  not  wanted. 

Train  No.  1,  pulled  into  "Jimtown"  Sunday  morning,  sev- 
eral hours  late,  but  without  further  incident. 

Later  two  men  were  arrested  as  suspects,  and  our  crew 
was  laid  off  to  go  to  Minneapolis  to  identify  them.  But  they 
had  been  so  thoroughly  disguised  that  we  were  simply  certain 
that  they  were  over  three  feet  and  less  than  ten  feet  high,  and 
so,  as  we  were  unable  to  furnish  the  necessary  identification, 
no  one  was  convicted. 

Chamberlain. 


118 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


OWNEY. 
The  Postal  Clerk's  Dog. 

It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  for  a  dog  to  drift  in  unannounced, 
attach  himself  to  some  place  or  person,  and  remain  a  perfectly 
satisfied  tho'  uninvited  guest.  A  few  have  made  their  homes 
in  post  offices  and  there  become  favorites  and  mascots  with 
post  office  clerks.  Such  a  dog  was  Owney,  a  Scotch-Irish  cur, 
which  was  adopted  by  the  clerks  in  the  Albany,  N.  Y.,  post 
office  in  1888.  Owney,  however,  took  a  liking  to  railway  mail 
cars,  and  after  once  making  a  trip  in  a  mail  car  became  a  trav- 
eling post  office  dog,  a  great  pet  of  railway  postal  clerks  and 
an  inveterate  traveler. 

The  Albany  clerks  had  attached  a  collar  to  the  traveling 
dog  inscribed,  "Owney,  Albany  Post  Office,  Albany,  N.  Y.," 
and  to  it  were  attached  checks,  medals,  inscriptions,  verses, 
and  post  marks  by  postal  men  in  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union,  as  well  as  a  dollar  from  Old  Mexico.  Postmaster- 
General  Wanamaker  took  pity  on  Owney  and  had  a  harness 
made  on  which  to  carry  the  tags,  medals,  etc.,  that  were  at- 
tached to  him.  At  one  time 
Owney  carried  a  little  memo- 
randum book  in  which  verses 
were  written.  A  Detroit  clerk 
wrote : 

"Owney  is  a  tramp. 
As  you  can  plainly  see, 
Only  treat  him  kindly, 
And  take  him  'long  wid  ye." 

Hardacre,  Minnesota,  wrote : 

"Any  one  Owney, 
And  this  is  he. 
The  dog  is  aloney, 
So  let  him  be." 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  119 

The  tags,  etc.,  attached  to  the  dog  became  so  heavy  that  a 
clerk  in  the  Boston  post  office  out  of  pity  for  him  took  off  the 
whole  outfit  and  sent  it  to  Albany,  where  the  souvenirs  were 
placed  in  a  glass  case,  along  with  a  picture  of  the  traveling 
postal  dog.  Once  in  Montreal,  Canada,  Owney  was  shut  up, 
and  the  Albany  clerks  were  sent  a  bill  for  board  which  was 
sent  at  once  and  the  dog  returned  to  the  States. 

Owney's  travels  were  not  to  be  confined  to  Uncle  Sam's 
domain,  for  after  returning  from  Alaska  in  1895,  he  trotted  up 
the  gangway  of  the  X.  P.  Co.'s  "Victoria"  and  sailed  for  Japan, 
August  19th.  When  he  arrived  at  Yokohama,  October  3d,  he 
attracted  much  attention  among  the  "Japs,"  who  were  much 
interested  in  his  tags,  etc.  At  Kobi  he  received  a  medal  from 
the  Emperor.  From  here  Owney  found  passage  to  Shanghai 
and  Foochow,  where  he  received  more  medals  and  returned  to 
Kobi.  Here  Captain  Grant,  of  the  Port  Philip,  took  him  on 
board.  He  was  taken  ashore  at  Singapore  and  sailed  from 
Port  Said  on  November  30th,  making  the  return  trip  via  the 
Suez  Canal  and  the  Azores.  After  a  few  hours  in  Xew  York 
the  globe  trotter  started  for  Tacoma,  where  he  arrived  in  five 
days,  completing  the  trip  around  the  world  in  132  days.  At 
the  end  of  this  trip  the  famous  dog  with  the  two  hundred  tags, 
medals,  etc.,  which  he  had  accumulated,  was  placed  in  a  public 
hall  and  seen  by  thousands  of  people.  At  a  Dog  Show  in  San 
Francisco,  Owney  was  given  a  silver  medal,  not  for  beauty, 
but  for  being  the  "Greatest  Dog  Traveler  in  the  World." 

As  seen  from  the  drawing  Owney  was  not  a  pretty  dog;  in 
fact  he  was  very  ordinary  looking.  He  was  very  intelligent 
though,  and  showed  almost  human  knowledge  of  train  con- 
nections. On  one  occasion  the  postal  dog  wanted  to  accom- 
pany a  clerk  from  Albany  to  Boston,  but  the  clerk  was  so  busy 
that  he  put  him  out  of  the  car.  Owney  promptly  took  a  local 
train  to  Troy,  where  he  caught  the  Boston  &  Troy,  arriving 
at  Boston  in  time  to  greet  the  clerk  as  he  was  getting  out  of 
his  car.  One  common  trick  of  his  was  to  crawl  into  his  har- 
ness when  someone  would  take  it  off.  He  seemed  almost 
afraid  of  losing  it.     Owney  was  once  lost  for  a  while,  and  it 


120  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

was  learned  that  he  was  tied  up  in  a  lumber  camp  on  the  i\ew 
York  Central  road.  The  president  of  the  road  was  written  to 
and  he  ordered  a  freight  crew  to  stop  and  find  the  dog.  A 
brakeman  went  to  the  camp,  found  him  and  set  him  free,  to  the 
great  delight  of  all  the  clerks,  as  well  as  of  his  "Dogship." 

Either  by  instinct  or  by  the  help  of  clerks,  Owney  man- 
aged to  attend  all  the  Postal  Clerks'  Conventions,  where  he 
was  right  in  his  element.  The  San  Francisco  convention  of 
March,  1897,  might  have  been  taken  as  a  sort  of  triumph  for 
this  famous  dog  rather  than  a  meeting  to  discuss  postal  clerk's 
affairs.  As  the  meeting  was  being  called  to  order,  in  came 
Owney,  wagging  his  stump  tail  in  delight,  and  ran  down  the 
aisle  amid  the  cheers  of  the  audience.  He  mounted  the  stage 
and  in  apparent  great  glee  looked  about  as  if  to  say,  "Now, 
you  can  proceed.  I'm  here."  Perhaps  few  speakers  ever  re- 
ceived such  applause  as  followed.  The  stump-tailed,  shaggy 
dog,  Owney,  appealed  to  the  sentimental  nature  of  every  mail 
slinger  in  the  convention,  and  it  was  fully  fifteen  minutes  be- 
fore order  was  restored.  This  was  Owney's  last  triumph, 
however,  for  in  the  following  August,  a  postmaster  at  Toledo, 
Ohio,  not  knowing  the  identity  of  the  dog,  ordered  him  shot.  A 
taxidermist  mounted  the  body  and  it,  with  all  the  medals,  tags, 
harness,  etc.,  was  sent  to  the  museum  at  ^"ashington,  where  it 
still  attracts  much  attention.  Old  clerks  like  to  tell  of  the 
tricks  of  this  canine,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  other  ever  re- 
ceived better  treatment  from  his  admirers  than  did  Owney, 
the  Postal  Clerks'  Dog.  W.  J.  D. 


THE  LIBRARY* 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Omaha  &  Ogden   Railway   Post  Office   (Union   Pacific   Railroad)— Going 
Through    Weber    Canyon,    Utah. 


\ 

INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  121 

A  Ballad  of  the  Town. 

Spirit  of  steam  and  steel, 

Spirit  of  men  that  feel, 

Spirit  of  growing  commonwealth. 

We  stood  on  a  swinging  beam, 

Me  and  my  pal  Joe. 
He  says,  "That's  quite  a  stream 

Of  biped  ants  below." 

"Look,"  he  says,"  to  the  west, 

Over  the  drifting  smoke; 
That  hill  is  lifting  like  a  woman's  breast, 

And  a  man  would  be  some  bloke 
If  he  didn't  have  thoughts  come  up  in  him 
That  swell  his  soul — my  eyes  are  dim." 


Iron  to  iron,  the  rivets  crept, 

While  through  the  air  our  hammers  swept, 

And  Joe  drowned  out  the  noise, 

His  booming  voice  sang:  "Boys, 

We  are  they  with  sweat  anointed, 

We  are  they  in  faith  appointed, 

With  straining  sinews  to  achieve 

A  glory  that  the  gods  conceive; 

Thus  to  the  uniform  ages  given, 

Thus  by  an  unknown  purpose  driven, 

We  ride  with  Death  where  the  log-boom  breaks, 

We  breathe  his  breath  where  the  furnace  shakes, 

We  finger  his  form  where  the  wheels  are  whirled, 

And  soon  to  his  knotted  arms  we're  hurled, 

Our  bones  in  the  eddies  lost, 

Our  bones  to  the  ash-pit  tossed." 
The  riveting  ceased,  and  ceased  the  song, 

And  Joe  looked  'round  in  his  humorous  way, 
And  said,  "I'm  glad  I'm  here  where  I  belong, 

I've  landed  a  job  and  I  get  good  pay." 

"Well,  then,"  I  said,  "dig  down  in  your  brain, 

And  since  you  must  sing,  get  off  o'  this  strain! 

I,  too, 

Have  work  to  do!" 

But  he  kept  on  with  the  same  refrain:  — 

"The  mice  play  far  from  the  cat's  cruel  claws, 

But  the  purring  mill  extends  its  paws; 

Our  children  are  belched  from  the  mine's  grim  jaws" — 

He  never  finished;  just  then  he  rose 

Swinging  his  hammer,  he  toppled; — the  close! 

— Henry  Ackley    (railway  postal  clerk,  of  Toledo,   Ohio), 
in  the  "Survey,"  April  3,  1915. 


122  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

A  Remarkable  Wreck. 

The  writer  once  figured,  rather  conspicuously,  in  a  wreck 
which  as  to  origin  and  consequences  probably  equals  anything 
in  the  history  of  railroad  accidents. 

It  was  on  the  main  Iowa  line  of  the  North  Western,  back 
in  the  '90s.  No.  1,  limited,  crack  train  came  into  Boone  one 
hour  late.  In  the  hope  of  putting  her  into  Council  Bluffs  on 
time  two  great  engines  were  there  coupled  on.  About  two 
hours  later  while  going  like  the  wind  we  approached  the  little 
town  of  Vail.  As  it  was  my  duty  I  went  to  the  door  and  put 
off  the  mail  for  that  point. 

Almost  instantaneously  with  the  release  of  the  mail  bags 
from  my  hands  the  car  gave  a  mighty  lurch  sidewise,  there  was 
a  muffled  din  behind  us  and  the  hissing  of  steam  pipes  indicated 
that  we  had  broken  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  train.  But  we 
kept  on  going.  We  did  not  know  what,  but  fearing  intuitively 
that  something  direful  had  happened.  We  finally  came  to  a 
stop  nearly  a  mile  farther  on.  •  Getting  out  of  the  car  and  out- 
side the  steam  cloud  surrounding  it,  we  looked  back  down  the 
track  and  our  hearts  went  into  our  throats  as  we  realized  that 
the  rest  of  that  long  train  was  lying  in  the  ditch.  For,  although 
a  mile  distant,  the  scene  was  lit  up  by  flames  that  shot  forty 
feet  into  the  air. 

Remembering  the  terrific  speed  at  which  we  had  been  trav- 
eling we  shuddered  in  the  conviction  that  back  there  scores 
of  dead  and  mangled  men,  women  and  children  were  being 
consumed  by  fire.  The  engines  had  gotten  out  of  order  and 
could  not  be  moved  backwards,  so  all  of  us,  enginemen  and 
mail  clerks,  hurried  afoot  to  the  wreck. 

Upon  our  arrival  there  all  the  elements  of  the  supposed 
holacaust  dissolved  one  by  one.  The  wreck  was  not  afire — 
only  ignited  gas  from  a  punctured  reservoir  was  burning,  and 
it  was  expending  itself  without  damage.  The  coaches  lay  in 
rather  orderly  groups  generally  intact  except  as  to  broken 
roof-ends,  steps,  etc.    Few,  even,  of  the  window  panes  on  the 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE  .    123 

upward  sides  of  them  were  broken.  Inside  the  coaches  was  a 
surprising  lack  of  panic  among  the  passengers — and  the  net 
of  serious  injuries  was  one  broken  limb. 

Just  as  I,  like  everybody  else,  had  thrown  off  the  burden  of 
apprehension  and  was  feeling  in  fine  spirits  over  the  outcome, 
the  conductor  invited  me  to  go  into  the  station  with  him. 
There  he  exhibited  the  upper  portion  of  a  switch  standard 
upon  the  "target"  of  which  was  still  impaled  a  heavy  sack  of 
mail.  Again  my  heart  started  for  my  mouth.  For  there  could 
be  but  one  inference  drawn  from  that  exhibit — the  train  had 
been  wrecked  by  a  mail  sack  thrown  off  by  myself.  And  this 
is  the  way  it  all  happened :  The  impact  of  the  sack  against 
the  target  had  broken  off  the  frost-laden  standard  just  below 
the  lock.  The  switch  points  being  thus  released  had  set  up  a 
regular  opening  and  shutting  action  that  sent  each  coach's 
forward  pair  of  trucks  onto  the  sidetrack  and  its  last  pair  onto 
the  main  line.  This  turned  the  coaches  sidewise  and  they 
gradually  toppled  over,  falling  onto  the  rails  of  the  two  lines 
of  sidetracks  which  served  as  skids  and  brought  them  to  com- 
paratively gentle  stops.  Had  there  been,  as  was  usually  the 
case,  a  number  of  freight  cars  standing  on  the  siding  our  first 
fears  would  have  been  realized  and  there  would  have  been  a 
different  story  to  tell.  E.  M.  M. 


124  THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 

The  Little  Village  Church. 

There's  a  church  in  the  valley  by  the  wildwood, 

No  lovelier  place  in  the  dale; 
No  spot  is  so  dear  to  my  childhood, 

As  the  little  brown  church  in  the  vale. 

A  church  erected  by  a  railway  postal  clerk  from  contribu- 
tions solicited  from  clerks  and  railroad  men  is  the  unique  edi- 
fice of  worship  which  stands  in  the  village  of  Eagle  Bridge, 
New  York.  This  memorial  church  was  the  result  of  the  efforts 
of  the  veteran  clerk,  Mr.  John  H.  Pitney.  Mr.  Pitney  felt  the 
need  of  a  church  in  the  village  and  conceived  the  idea  of  rais- 
ing the  necessary  money  among  the  men  with  whom  he  asso- 
ciated in  his  work  on  the  road.  As  a  result  of  his  solicitations 
and  work  the  church  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  on 
October  26,  1882.  Mr.  August  Bindeman  in  the  "Railway 
Post  Office"  describes  this  memorial  church  to  postal  and  rail- 
road men  as  follows: 

"The  large  window  in  the  gable  next  to  the  street  was  con- 
tributed entirely  by  postmasters,  post  office  clerks,  railway 
postal  clerks  and  railroad  men.  The  design  is  by  Mr.  Pitney, 
and  the  drawing  is  by  Conductor  Isaac  Sargent,  of  the  old 
Fitchburg  road.  The  dimensions  of  the  window  are  six  feet 
by  seven  feet  six  inches.  In  the  oval  top  is  a  cross  and  crown 
with  the  initial  letters  of  the  church  society  in  monogram. 
Directly  underneath  this  is  a  carrier  pigeon  carrying  a  letter 
in  his  beak,  which  represents  the  earliest  recorded  manner  of 
transporting  intelligence.  Underneath  this  on  the  left  the 
post  rider  is  represented;  on  the  right  the  third  era  in  the 
march  of  intelligence  is  represented,  a  mail  coach  and  four 
horses  traversing  a  highway  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  the  Hud- 
son, on  the  bosom  of  which  is  seen  (in  the  distance)  Robert 
Fulton's  first  steamboat.  The  Scripture  motto  surrounding 
these  historical  scenes  is  the  angel's  proclamation  to  the  watch- 
ing shepherds,  'Behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy, 
which  shall  be  unto  all  the  people,'  and  'May  this  church  be 
indeed  good  tidings'  and  'glad  tidings'  and  'a  source  of  great 
joy  to  the  people.'     Beneath  all  this  is  a  train  of  cars,  with  a 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


A    Memorial   Church,    Eagle    Bridge,   New   York— Erected    by 
Postal  Clerks  and    Railroad   Men. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE  125 

United  States  postal  car  attached,  telegraph  and  telephone 
lines  with  telegraph  instrument,  key  and  sounder,  and  a  tele- 
phone instrument.  A  church  and  schoolhouse  are  seen  in  the 
landscape,  twin  sisters  of  a  Christian  civilization.  Just  over 
the  telegraph  and  telephone  line  is  the  Scripture  motto :  'Their 
lines  are  gone  out  through  all  the  earth  and  their  words  to  the 
end  of  the  world.'  Over  the  telephone  instrument  is  the  motto, 
'Let  every  man  be  swift  to  hear  and  slow  to  speak,'  and  over 
the  telegraph  instrument  this  motto:  'For  this  is  the  message 
that  ye  learned  from  the  beginning,  that  ye  shall  love  one 
another.'  The  border  is  a  representation  of  an  ocean  cable, 
with  this  motto:  'He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea 
and  from  the  river  unto  the  end's  of  the  earth.'  " 

The  little  Eagle  Bridge  church  is  a  fitting  memorial  for 
men  who  perform  such  faithful  tho'  inconspicuous  service,  and 
doubtless  the  minds  of  not  a  few  whose  bodies  have  grown 
tired  in  long  years  of  exacting  service  revert  to  the  further 
stanzas  of  Mr.  Pitts'  "Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale." 

"How  sweet  on  a  bright  Sabbath  morning, 
To  list  to  the  clear  ringing  bell; 
Its  tones  so  sweetly  are  calling, 

Oh,  come  to  the  church  in  the  vale." 

W.  D. 


126 


THE  TRAVELING  POST  OFFICE 


ft. 


Wnckgamb 


Being  Held  All 
The  Time 


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Get  Ready!  Be  Ready!! 

Regular  Examinations  are  held  twice 

each  year.         Write  for  Schedule. 


SPECIAL    EXAMINATIONS 

are  announced  when  eligibles  are  needed  to  fill  va- 
cancies. A  list  of  such  examinations  will  be  found 
with  our  Announcement,  which  will  be  sent  free  on 
request.  From  it  will  be  seen  the  demands  that  are 
being  made  upon  the  Civil  Service  Commission  from 
day  to  day.  In  addition  to  this  list,  we  get  from  the 
Civil  Service  Commission  each  day  a  list  of  specially 
announced  examinations  for  Postmasters  and  Rural 
Carriers.  Our  students  are  notified  of  all  these  spe- 
cial opportunities,  are  prepared  in  advance  and  are 
ready — hence  their  great  advantage  over  others  not 
so  fortunate. 

OPPORTUNITIES  WITH  UNCLE  SAM 

The  opportunities  for  the  employee  of  Uncle  Sam 
are  greater  than  that  of  any  other  employee.  Geo. 
B.  Cortelyou  was  at  one  time  an  humble  clerk  in  the 
Pest  Office  Department.  He  was  later  Postmaster- 
General  and  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Now 
(on  account  of  his  Departmental  record)  he  is  the 
President  of  the  Consolidated  Gas  Co.,  of  New  York 
City — one  of  the  highest  salaried  positions  in  the  Unit- 
ed States. 

An  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (and  there 
have  been  some  who  started  as  messengers)  is  the 
President  of  the  City  Bank  of  New  York — the  biggest 
bank  in  the  world,  fie  would  never  have  been  thought 
except  for  his  connection  with  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. 


THE  RAILWAY  MAIL  SERVICE 

The  regular  examination  for  the  Railway  Mail  Serv- 
ice is  usually  held  but  once  a  year.  Special  Ex- 
aminations, which  occur  frequently,  are  held  as  eligi- 
bles are  needed,  and  they  occur  at  any  time,  with  but 
short  notice.  The  satisfactory  results  from  these 
"special  examinations"  have  caused  this  long  interval 
between   regular   examinations. 

There  is  not  sufficient  time  to  take  a  course  of  prepa- 
ration after  the  date  has  been  announced  and  before  a 
special  examination  is  held,  even  should  you  hear  of  it. 
One  great  advantage  our  students  have  is  the  notifi- 
cation we  give  them  of  Special  Examinations  for  which 
we  are  preparing  them.  Our  students  have  nothing 
to  worry  about.  We  look  after  all  the  details.  Thou- 
sands of  persons  are  yearly  prevented  from  taking  ex- 
aminations because  they  are  not  posted  as  to  the  tech- 
nical requirements  which  puzzle  even  the  proverbial 
"Philadelphia  Lawyer." 

If  you  want  a  position  in  the  Railway  Mail  Service, 
enroll  with  us  now  and  take  the  course  of  preparation; 
then  you  will  be  ready  for  the  examination  when  it  is 
announced,  whether  regular  or  special.  Your  com- 
petitors will  not  be  ready,  and  your  advantage  will 
be  just  what  you  will  need  to  insure  your  name  being 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  list. 


A.  Commission  of $2. 00  will  be  paid  for  the  name  of  anyone 
whom  we  may  secure  as  a  student. 


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Washington,  D.  C. 


INCIDENTS  OF  THE  RAILWAY   MAIL   SERVICE 


127 


iiiiiii[]iiiiiiiiiiiic]iiiiiiiiiiiic]iiiiiiiiiiii:]iiiiiiiiiiii[:iiiiiiiiiiiic:iiiiiiiiiiiic:iiiiiiiiiiiic:iiii!iiiiiii[;iiiiiiiiiiii[]iiiiiiiiiiii[)iiii 

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SEND  FOR  ORDER  BLANKS  j 

We  give  you  from  1 0  to  15  blank  slips  free    | 
with  each  run  of  slips  for  emergency. 

The  Postal  Supply  &  Mfg.  Co.  I 

5606  Euclid  Ave.  CLEVELAND,  OHIO    j 

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